Intro/Film/Speech begin at 2:51
Wow. Wow. Thank you.
You know if you had told the 22-year-old who sat shivering in a Lower East Side loft writing her first cookbook that this was possible, she would have told you that you were insane, Not just because I could not have imagined receiving such an honor, but also because the very idea of honoring anyone for a lifetime in food would have seemed absolutely absurd.
The America I grew up in gave very very little thought to food. It wasn’t considered either interesting or important. Certainly, the idea of a career in food was almost unimaginable to a person like me. Chefs were all male, and mostly European, and they certainly didn’t want women in their kitchens. Restaurants served mostly Continental Cuisine. Food Writing was relegated to polite recipe-filled magazines, and what was then known as the “women’s pages” of newspapers. Our produce was tasteless, our coffee was dust, and Americans cheerfully looked forward to a future filled with TV dinners.
It is hard to believe how enormous the changes in the food world have been in my lifetime. And so I want to thank the James Beard Foundation and all of you. Not just for this honor, but for making it even possible.
You changed the way we eat, created a delicious revolution, and a world where people finally, finally understand that eating is an ethical act and that our food choices really, really matter. It gives me hope for the future. Thank you all so much.
https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2024-james-beard-award-winners
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/dining/james-beard-award-winners.html
https://www.eater.com/24175309/james-beard-awards-2024-winners-restaurant-and-chef-awards
