Civil Eats Nominated for Record Five James Beard Media Awards

Senior Staff Reporter and Contributing Editor Lisa Held was nominated for two James Beard Foundation Media Awards for excellence in Health and Wellness reporting for her stories about the dietary guidelines and the Make America Healthy Again movement’s climate change conundrum.

Held, along with Staff Reporter Rebekah Alvey and News Editor Brian Calvert, also received a nomination for excellence in Columns and Newsletters for our Food Policy Tracker. The stories included coverage of how the Agriculture and Health Secretaries pledged their support for healthy school food while slashing related funding; our running list of immigration raids on farms, restaurants, and other food workplaces, the only record of its kind; and our reporting on the status of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits during the government shutdown.

Associate Editor Christina Cooke was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Media Award for excellence in Profiles for her story about Eva Clayton, North Carolina’s first Black congresswoman.

Contributor David Bacon was nominated for excellence in Narrative Photography for his photo essay about farmworker youth protests, which was produced in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

We are honored that the James Beard Foundation has previously recognized our work. Last year, former Staff Reporter Grey Moran won a James Beard Foundation Media Award for excellence in Health and Wellness reporting for their story about the Fair Food Program, a grassroots initiative that provides Florida farmworkers with heat protections. Civil Eats was also nominated for a 2025 James Beard Foundation Media Award for excellence in Columns and Newsletters for The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter.

In 2024, Held, Reporter Alice Driver, and Contributor Aaron Van Neste were nominated for a James Beard Foundation Media Award for excellence in Investigative Reporting for our 2023 investigation series on Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation, Walanthropy. Reporter Virginia Gewin was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Media Award for excellence in Health and Wellness reporting on the Salton Sea.

In 2023, Cooke, former Senior Reporter Gosia Wozniacka, and Contributor Alice Driver were awarded a James Beard Foundation Media Award for excellence in Investigative Reporting for our 2022 investigation series on animal agriculture workers, Injured and Invisible.