The Chefs Collaborative Team is pleased to announce a call for nominations for the Chefs Collaborative Sustainability Awards. Three different awards will recognize individuals who have played an exemplary role in advancing the Chefs Collaborative mission to promote a national network of chefs changing the sustainable food landscape. Awards will be presented on Tuesday, September 30, at the Chefs Collaborative Awards Lunch in Seattle.

Please return your nomination form, which you can download here, to the Awards Committee by June 6, 2012 by email (awards@chefscollaborative.org) or by fax (617-236-5272).

The Awards

Sustainer: This award will recognize a chef who has been both a great mentor and is a model to the culinary community through his/her purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and the transformation of these ingredients into delicious food.

Pathfinder: This award will recognize a visionary working in the greater food community who has been a catalyst for positive change within the food system through efforts that go beyond the kitchen.

Foodshed Champion: In 2012, this award will recognize a producer in the Pacific Northwest. This award will recognize a food producer (farmer, fisher, artisanal producer) committed to working with chefs and who exemplifies the following principle: Good food begins with unpolluted air, land, and water, environmentally sustainable farming and fishing, and humane animal husbandry.

The Judges

* Amy Bodiker, Principal, Bodiker Consulting, LLC, Columbus, OH. 2011 Pioneers Table Awardee.

* Rick Bayless, Chef/Owner, Frontera, Topolobampo, XOXO restaurants, Chicago, IL. Chefs Collaborative Advisory Board member. 2010 Pioneers Table Awardee.

* Nancy Civetta, Communications Director, Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, Welfleet, MA.

* Peter Davis, Executive Chef, Henrietta's Table, Cambridge, MA. 2010 Sustainer Awardee.

* Piper Davis, Cuisine Director/Co-Owner, Grand Central Baking Company. Chefs Collaborative Board member.

* Ed Doyle, President and Founder, Real Food Consulting, Inc.

* Rebecca Goldburg, Director of Marine Science, Pew Charitable Trust's Environment Group, New York, NY. Chefs Collaborative Advisory Board Member.

* Maisie Greenawalt, VP of Strategy, Bon Appetit Management Company, Palo Alto, CA.

* Jennifer Hall, General Manager, SustainableHire, Bellevue, WA.

* Sam Hayward, Chef/Owner, Fore Street, Portland, ME. 2011 Sustainer Award.

* Fred Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ames, IA. Chefs Collaborative Advisory Board Member.

* Chris Koetke, Executive Director, Kendall College School of Culinary Arts. Vice President, Laureate International Universities Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts, Chicago, IL. 2010 Pathfinder Awardee.

* Michael Leviton, Chef/Owner, Lumiere in Newton MA and chef/Co-Owner, Area Four, Cambridge MA. Chair, Chefs Collaborative Board.

* Theresa Marquez, Chief Mission Officer, Organic Valley, La Farge, WI.

* Dan McGovern, Publisher, Sustainable Food News, Portland, ME.

* Nicolette Hahn Niman, Attorney and Livestock Rancher, Bolinas CA.

* Bob Perry, Coordinator and Chef, Food Systems Initiative, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky. Chefs Collaborative Board Member.

* Tracey Ryder, President and CEO, Edible Communities, Santa Barbara, CA. Chefs Collaborative Board Member.

* Robin Schempp, President, Right Stuff Enterprises, Waterbury, VT. 2011 Pioneers Table Awardee.

* Jane Black, Journalist, Huntington, WV

The Process

* Awards Committee is established: Piper Davis, Cuisine Director/Co-Owner, Grand Central Baking Company, Portland, OR; Maisie Greenawalt, VP of Strategy, Bon Appetit Management Company, Palo Alto, CA; Jennifer Hall, General Manager, SustainableHire, Bellevue, WA; Bob Perry, Coordinator and Chef, Food Systems Initiative, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky.

* A call for nominations announced to Chefs Collaborative members via email May 16. All nominations must be peer nominated - someone working within the food system nominating a peer.

* Nominations due to the Awards Committee by June 6.

* Awards committee selects finalists by mid July.

* Awards Judges will review nominees and select an awardee in each category by end of July.

* Nominees will be notified by late July and then announced to media.

* Awards will be announced and presented at the Chefs Collaborative Awards Lunch on Tuesday, September 30, during the National Summit in New Orleans.