Reuters/BCFN Food Sustainability Media Award for Citizen and Media Journalists 2018

The Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition organize the Food Sustainability Media Award to encourage journalists to report on food sustainability and today’s food paradoxes.

Application Deadline: 31st May 2018 (London time)

Eligible Countries: All

About the Award: Media coverage of food is often limited to how it tastes. While that’s important, the Food Sustainability Media Award goes beyond taste – recognising that food is really ‘good’ when it benefits people and the planet.

The global food system faces unprecedented challenges. Poverty, over-consumption, growing population and climate change are some of the most critical threats to our Planet. Now, more than ever, there is a pressing need to shed light on some of the paradoxes affecting our food system.

• Hunger & Obesity – for every undernourished person there are now two obese or overweight people in the world;
• Food & Fuel – a third of agricultural cereal crops are used to produce animal feed or biofuels despite hunger and malnutrition;
• Waste & Starvation – 1.3 billion tons of edible food is wasted every year, four times the amount needed to feed the 815 million undernourished people around the world.

Food sustainability is a global concern, and we believe the media has a key role to play. By informing and shedding light on today’s food paradoxes, the media at large can engage consumers so that – in turn – they can contribute to the creation of a more equitable and sustainable future, starting from their food choices.

The Food Sustainability Media Award aims to recognise the work of professional journalists and emerging talent from all over the world for excellence in reporting and communicating issues related to food security, sustainability, agriculture and nutrition.

Type: Award

Eligibility: Applications are invited for the following 2 categories. See full details of eligibility for each category both for published and unpublished works.

1. Written Journalism
2. Multimedia

• For the Award’s two categories, both published and unpublished work can be submitted. Published and unpublished entries will be judged separately.
• In addition, published and unpublished finalists in both categories will be put forward for the Best of the Web Award. The winner of this award will be chosen by the public.

Selection: All shortlisted entries for the Food Sustainability Media Award will be assessed by an independent panel of leading professionals from the fields of journalism, photography, food and agricultural sustainability policy and research.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: 

• Entries to the Food Sustainability Media Award will be judged in two categories: written journalism and multimedia.
• For each category we will award both one published and one unpublishedpiece of work.
• Winning published work in the written journalism and multimedia categories will receive a €10,000 cash prize.
• Winning unpublished work in the written journalism and multimedia categories will receive an all-expenses paid trip to attend a Thomson Reuters Foundation media training course on food sustainability.
• Both winning unpublished entries will be distributed via the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the BCFN websites.
• The winning unpublished written work will also be distributed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation via the Reuters wire, reaching an estimated 1 billion readers.

How to Apply: APPLY HERE

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition