The third annual Good Food Awards are happening again this fall, and it’s totes not too late to submit coffee. If you’re unfamiliar, the GFA’s (“the Goofies”) is kind of a coming-out ball for new-age California slow foods celebutants, “like the Royal Court at Versailles getting down with the 4-H Club.” We went last year and just about died. So many great foods! So many mason jars! So many rich people! And Alice…don’t forget about Alice, and don’t you dare say her full name. She is not Alice Waters to this crowd…she is simply, succinctly: Alice.
We’ve made great hay over the years of openly mocking the GFA’s, but we do definitely feel as though the 2012 GFA coffee board – Jen Apodaca, Brent Fortune, Andrew Barnett, and Tony Konecny – have made some real strides forward for the event’s format and constraints. The rules in the past were ripe with controversy, first too loose, and then perhaps too tight; truth is, coffee is pretty gosh darn different from local cheese and produce, so figuring out how all these categories should play by the same rules for organic designation is no easy feat.
But this year, we feel like the GFA Coffee requirements are just right. They’ve opened the whole thing up to allow wider access, celebrating roasters and producers of all shapes and sizes. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
Ease on into these new rules (take deep breaths and just relax):
We sat down with Coffee Common franchisee Brent Fortune and asked him to dish on the new rules, which he kindly obliged:
Sprudge: Hi Brent, we totally dig The Goofies! And we just love the new rules! Tell us more! Dish! Dish!
HBF: We wanted to create more options for roasters while staying within the framework created by the GFA’s. The addition of the Gold Seal for certified organic (verifiable) was something the GFA’s created last year, so we incorporated that into the coffee category. We know there are great coffees from sustainable producers as well as ones that are also certified organic and wanted to be able to recognize both.
Oh totally! For those that don’t know, here’s some info on the Gold Seal straight from the GFA website:
In 2012, the Good Food Awards decided to recognize a select group of winners with a Gold Seal. While all winners are on the path towards sustainability, and far beyond where the majority of their industry lies, some of these pioneers have reached the stage of full, certified organic status while also leading on taste and social responsibility. The Good Food Awards Gold Seal honors them for being the gold standard, and showing all of us that it can be done. In 2012, over a quarter of our winners were awarded the Gold Seal!
Sprudge: So Brent, listen, for the roasters that are reading this: what’s the scoop on entering this year’s GFA competition?
HBF: The roasters/producers only have until Aug 31 to submit for this year, so 10 more days! Even if they don’t know exactly what coffee they want to send the the tasting in October, they can submit a place holder coffee and change it prior to the blind tasting.
That’s right! 10 More Days! Submit now! Here! Go!
