Back to basics as food staples take centre stage at 2021 IFWG Food Awards
Print20 April 2021
“In a year in which there has been a newfound appreciation for the simple pleasures in life, it is perhaps no coincidence that the winners of the 2021 Irish Food Writers’ Guild (IFWG) Food Awards reflect the basic foundations of Irish food,” said IFWG Chair, Kristin Jensen, announcing this year’s winners.
Oft-considered store cupboard ‘basics’ have each been singled out for a 2021 Irish Food Award, and for good reason.
The Guild awarded its Irish Drink Award to a gem of a Kinsale crafted mead flavoured with tart Irish blackberry and juicy cherry. One of Ireland’s leading cheesemakers was awarded the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award, while the 2021 Environmental Award went to a Kildare business producing organic porridge oats, stoneground flour and semolina, which witnessed a recent resurgence in popularity with people returning to or trying out home baking for the first time during lockdown.
In a year that saw food companies pivot and move online to survive, and in many cases, thrive, a ‘virtual’ farmer’s market that connects customers to a network of indigenous producers received the Outstanding Organisation Award. The Guild’s 2021 Community Food Award went to a group that has launched a two-year programme that aims to teach crucial skills associated with food and commensality to school-going children.
Now in their 27th year, the IFWG Food Awards celebrate local producers and food heroes who have brought joy to the lives, livelihoods and tables of so many, before and especially during Covid-19, but whose commitment to producing great food and drink will endure long after the pandemic.
The winners of the 2021 Irish Food Writers’ Guild Food Awards were:
- Food Award: Abernethy Butter, Co. Down.
- Food Award: Ballymakenny Farm Irish Heritage and Specialty Potatoes, Co. Louth.
- Food Award: Tom Durcan’s Spiced Beef, Co. Cork.
- Irish Drink Award: Kinsale Mead Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged, Co. Cork.
- Outstanding Organisation Award: NeighbourFood, Co. Cork.
- Environmental Award: Ballymore Organics, Co. Kildare.
- Community Food Award: The Green-Schools Food & Biodiversity Theme.
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Marion Roeleveld, Killeen Farmhouse Cheese, Co. Galway.
“The past year has seen a seismic shift in how people are thinking about their food with a renewed focus on traceability, sustainability and most importantly this year, supporting local,” Jensen added. “These have been the three key tenets of the IFWG Food Awards and the work of the Guild for almost 30 years.
“If this pandemic has any silver lining, it is the light that has been shined on the incredible, resourceful and innovative food producers of Ireland that have responded to the challenge, giving back to communities and ensuring a continued supply of and access to the highest-quality home-grown produce,” she said. “Our winners have an innate passion for food and their commitment is nothing short of vocational. This is our way of recognising their achievements and our way of saying well done and thank you.”
On behalf of the IFWG, Kristin Jensen paid tribute to Bord Bia for its continued support of the awards and its tireless work on the home and export markets to promote and develop the Irish food industry.
For the first time in its long-established history, the traditional IFWG Food Awards ceremony and lunch featuring all the winning produce was cancelled. However, if there was ever a time to champion and celebrate local producers it’s right now and subsequently, citations, interviews with the winners and recipes have been lovingly catalogued in an IFWG Food Awards e-zine.
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