Southern Foodways Alliance's Egerton Prize Awards on August 12
Join the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) for the inaugural Egerton Prize Awards Ceremony on Sunday, August 12, 4:00 p.m., at the Nashville Public Library. The free, public event, will be held in the library’s auditorium and followed by a ticketed reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Main Gallery at 21c Museum Hotel Nashville (a short walk from the library).
Gray & Dudley culinary team and a surprise guest chef will be creating delicious bites for the reception, inspired by Egerton family recipes. Tickets to the reception can be purchased here.
For his work in chronicling and championing the cause of civil rights in America, and for his contribution to our understanding of the power of the common table, SFA established the John Egerton Prize to recognize artists, writers, scholars, and others–including artisans and farmers and cooks–whose work, in the American South, addresses issues of race, class, gender, and social and environmental justice, through the lens of food. While the awards were founded in 2009, this year marks the inaugural standalone ceremony, taking place in Egerton’s hometown of Nashville, where he lived from 1965 until his passing in 2013. According to SFA Director John T Edge, “John Egerton claimed Nashville. And the city claimed him. He wrote his two big books there, Speak Now Against the Day and Southern Food. Our Egerton Prize celebrates the ways in which he continues to inspire transformative work in the world of food. This event brings that prize home, where it belongs.”
The 2018 Egerton Prize Awards Ceremony will feature remarks by Alice Randall, author and writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt University, who will speak about John Egerton: his life, his work, his contributions to the city of Nashville, his role as a leader in the study of Southern regional foodways, and his legacy as a founder of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Chuck Reece, founder and editor of The Bitter Southerner, will introduce the honorees and share stories of their work. Attendees will also view original films about the honorees, produced by the SFA.
In 2018, SFA will offer two prizes. One prize will be awarded to Fresh Future Farm, an urban farm and grocery market serving the local community in North Charleston, South Carolina. Germaine Jenkins, CEO of the farm and market director, will accept on behalf of the organization. The second prize is awarded to The Neighbor’s Field in Comer, Georgia, a project of Jubilee Partners that assists former refugees independently practicing sustainable agriculture. The Neighbor’s Field will be accepted on behalf by its coordinator, Rebecca Smith.
