The Environmental Emmys

January 9, 11:34 AMIndianapolis Sustainable Food ExaminerJennifer Litz

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Wouldn't you reward the person who protected this guy? From Flickr's publicenergy.

Almost, anyway. It's really the Growing Green Awards. Got a leader in the sustainable field you’d like to nominate for a Michael Pollan-sanctioned prize?

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is holding its first-ever Growing Green Awards to recognize leaders in the fields of sustainable food production and dissemination.

Sustainable Food News outlined the contest’s parameters earlier this week, saying the NRDC will recognize those with extraordinary contributions to “ecologically integrated farming practices, climate stewardship, water stewardship, farmland preservation, and social responsibility from farm to fork.”

Three nomination categories include Food Producers (farmers), Business Leaders (restaurateurs, distributors in the business of sustainable food) and Thought Leaders (journalists, etc.). The first category’s winner will receive $10,000.

Off the top of my head, I might just send in a nomination for Luke Rhodes of Rhodes Family Farm in Newberry, Indiana. His happy chickens produce velvety free-range eggs, but even more impressive is his raw milk, which would have impressed Louis Pasteur himself.  Rhodes cows are grass fed and hormone free, and the practices surrounding their milking are very careful and sterile. You can buy cow shares from him if you want to try some—law prohibits the direct sale of raw milk in most states. (But I think Rhodes is working on that, too!)

Who would you vote for? Send your nominations to svyborney@nrdc.org. Deadline is Feb. 6, 2009.