Submissions Open

BOSTON, February 2012 — Oldways (www.oldwayspt.org)  is now accepting submissions for its 2nd annual K. Dun Gifford Journalism Award which this year celebrates whole grains.  The award is named in honor of the late K. Dun Gifford, founder of the non-profit well known for creating the Whole Grain Stamp and the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. Created in 2011, the award recognizes and honors the important role of communications in changing the way people eat.

The K. Dun Gifford Journalism Award will go to the best on-topic national or local food and nutrition reporting from any platform — print, broadcast or online. Each year, the subject matter for the award changes.  This year’s submissions must be about whole grains and their contribution to better health, while last year’s inaugural award celebrated the Mediterranean Diet.

Each entry must reflect one or more of Oldways founding principles: to be positive, practical, science-based, tradition-based, and celebrate the pleasures of the table.

“Thanks to nutrition education and the media, whole grains have gone mainstream and consumers are increasingly discovering the versatility, great taste and powerful health benefits of everything from amaranth to wild rice,” said Sara Baer-Sinnott, president of Oldways. “This momentum will continue with Whole Grains Month in September as well as with the USDA’s focus on its ‘Make at least half your grains whole grains’ healthy eating message this fall. We think this is the perfect theme to emphasize for the 2012 K. Dun Gifford Journalism Award.”

The Grand Prize Winner will receive an all expense-paid spot on one of Oldways’ popular Culinarias, one-of-a-kind Health through Heritage culinary trips throughout the world, or at one of Oldways’ scientific and culinary conferences.

The inaugural winner, Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, RD, was awarded a trip to the Mediterranean region for her winning Good Morning America Health segment, Boosting Brain Health with the Mediterranean Diet. Her entry was selected by a jury including journalists Mimi Sheraton, Judith Weinraub and David Rosengarten, plus Dun’s daughter, Apple Gifford, and Oldways president, Sara Baer-Sinnott.

For the 2012 award, the work must have been published or aired between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012.  Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2012.  The award winner will be announced in early 2013.  For more information, complete rules, or to submit entries please visit: http://www.oldwayspt.org/newsroom-media/k-dun-gifford-award.

Gifford, an influential food advocate, started Oldways in 1990.  He believed that positive and practical solutions, grounded in science, traditions and delicious foods and drinks, would help address the threatening tsunami of chronic diseases. Gifford invited others intrigued by his vision – scientists, chefs, restaurateurs, cookbook authors, and journalists — to join him at the Oldways Table to address this important challenge. By documenting and educating others about the healthy “old ways,” Oldways and its partners have made strides toward changing the way people eat.

For more information about whole grains, please visit the Whole Grains Council: www.wholegrainscouncil.org.

About Oldways

Oldways (www.oldwayspt.org) is a nonprofit food and nutrition education organization, with a mission to guide people to good health through heritage, using practical and positive programs grounded in science and tradition. Simply, we advocate for the healthful pleasures of real food. Oldways is the parent organization for The Whole Grains Council and The Mediterranean Foods Alliance, and is well-known for creating the Whole Grain Stamp and the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.