About
The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the grains community to create the tasting, determine judges and set standards for the category. Read on to learn who has been integral to building the category, as well as what the grains standards are and who will be judging this year.
Committee
Co-ChairsFrances Wilson
Chef Instructor
FRANCES WILSON can’t remember a time when her life has not revolved around food, from an early age cooking with her mother and then professionally as a chef and teacher. There are some that will say it’s all she ever thinks about! Frances trained as a high school teacher of Home Economics in her native Ireland. She moved to Berkeley in 1990 and was Executive Chef at the award-winning Lalime’s Restaurant for a decade, followed by four years as Culinary Director at Château Routas in Provence, France, where she catered to chateau guests and ran cooking classes. For 10 years, Frances was Professional Culinary Instructor at TANTE MARIE’S COOKING SCHOOL in San Francisco, leading both the Professional Program and weekend specialty classes. She has taught at many other Bay Area venues including the FERRY PLAZA FARMERS MARKET, SUR LA TABLE, and COPIA and the SILVERADO COOKING SCHOOL in Napa. Frances is passionate about teaching people how to cook real food with great local ingredients. She believes that cooking simple meals doesn’t have to be a chore but can be a fun time spent with family and friends.
Jen Nurse
Co-Founder of The Civic Kitchen S.F.
Jen is the co-founder of The Civic Kitchen cooking school in San Francisco, where she enthusiastically fosters self-sufficiency and joy in the kitchen, and civil discourse and connection around the table. She is a lifelong avid home cook, a pastry chef and former bakery owner, and an evangelist for the life-changing power of education. Jen is honored to serve as co-chair for the Grains category.
Linda Esposito
Chef Instructor
Linda Tay Esposito is a teaching chef whose food represents a tribute and a commitment to the authenticity of East and Southeast Asian cuisines. Since 2004, Linda has been connecting students to their heritage cuisine through story-telling and using approachable techniques. Linda teaches at 18 Reasons, Civic Kitchen and on Milk Street. Outside of teaching, Linda is a food business consultant with a focus on placemaking and building equitable food systems. Linda’s work centers around helping food businesses flourish through the intersectional lens of food, sustainability and equity. She led the development of La Cocina’s municipal marketplace as well as the food programs at the Presidio Tunnel Tops and Ikea Saluhall. She has worked on ground floor activation initiatives at several affordable housing projects in San Francisco. Linda is a member of the Good Food Foundation advisory board and serves on their Equity Task Force. In her free time, she plants hard-to-find Asian herbs at the community garden at Fort Mason.
2024 Judges
Carolyn Insley
Editor, Hardie Grant Publishing
Saeeda Hafiz
Wellness Policy Grants Manager, San Francisco Unified School District
Uli Maybach
President, Maybach Foundation
Jim Dodge
Chef, Author & Educator, Chef Jim Dodge
Michael Kalanty
Principal, Michael Kalanty, R&D Bakery
Brian Hogan Stewart
Host; Director, Salt + Spine; Bread & Butter
Claudia Carter
Executive Director, California Wheat Commission
Rosemary Mark
Owner, Culinary Consultant
Brandon Buza
Zoé Mclaughlin
Chef, Zoé Mclaughlin
Standards
In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, grains entries must meet the following standards:
- Grown in the USA or US territories.
- Grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.
- Grown from seeds that are:
- Free of genetic modification
- Open Source/Non-Patented Seed
- Grown and milled using fair labor practices.
- Grown with soil health in mind, including:*
- Conservation tillage.
- Cover crops.
- Crop rotations.
- Promotes biodiversity.
- Rotational grazing.
- Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the Good Food community, committed to equity and inclusion in all levels of their business, as exemplified through integrating these practices:
- Creating a safe and healthy work environment where employees receive a fair wage, are safe and respected at work and have access to the resources they need to keep themselves healthy.
- Offering a diversity, equity, and inclusion training to staff members and/or leadership annually.
- Thoughtfully acknowledging the heritage of culturally-specific food on websites, packaging and/or marketing materials.
- If your company is Publicly-held, Owned/Partially-owned by publicly-held compan(y)ies, or has over $100 million in annual revenue, your company, as well as its parent company(ies), are required to meet additional criteria to become Good Food Qualified:
- Offer a minimum of 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all employees
- Have at least one woman, minority, or LGBTQIA+ representative on their Board of Directors
- Have a proven track record of prioritizing a safe and fairly-compensated work culture, with no violations in the area of wage or workplace safety in the past 5 years. This will be verified on the Good Jobs First Violation Tracker
Additional criteria for pasta and tortillas:
- If made with inclusions and flavorings that are grown domestically, they are locally sourced wherever possible; traceable; and grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.***
- If made with inclusions and flavorings that are not grown domestically on a commercial scale, they are farm-direct, certified organic or Fair Trade certified.***
Subcategories
Additionally, grains entries must fit within one of the following subcategories:
- Flatbreads (Lavash, Naan, Pita)
- Cereal Grains- Uncooked and dry (e.g., rice, barley, oats, wild rice, grits, cracked wheat, quinoa)
- Legumes – Uncooked and dry (e.g., beans, lentils)
- Pasta (Fresh, Dry and Filled)
- Tortillas
Cooking and Preparation Specs
Entrants will be able to specify cooking instructions including sorting, rinsing, soaking, water content and cooking time.
- Grains, Legumes, and Pasta will be cooked in water with 1 tbsp. of sea salt per quart.
- Legumes will be introduced in salted boiling water (105 to 110˚C) then the flame will be reduced to medium low to achieve a bubbly simmer for the time indicated by producer/packager (75 and 85˚C)
- Pasta will be introduced in salted boiling water and stirred. Subsequently the pot will be covered until the water comes back to boiling then the temperature will be reduced to medium high to just below boil (90 to 95˚C)
- Grains will be cooked based on the instructions indicated by the entrant.
- Grains, Legumes, and Pasta will be cooked with San Francisco tap water in All-Clad cookware, on a gas stovetop.
- Grains and Legumes will be cooked the day before selection and served to judges at room temperature.
- Pasta will be cooked right before the tasting.
- Tortillas will be heated on a dry, high heat cast iron skillet.