The Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) is delighted to announce the shortlist for CWT Awards 2019 Media Food Campaigner of the Year.  The award celebrates journalists and social media writers who work to campaign to improve public health through good food within the media.

The awards ceremony will be held on 12 November 2019 at the RSM Chandos House.  Professor Tim Lang, President of the CWT, will be presenting the award to the winner of each category.  Traditionally the Caroline Walker Trust has offered several awards.  This year the awards include Food Hero, Charity Food Campaigner, Nutritionist and Freelance Nutritionist as well as Media Food Campaigner of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Caroline Walker Trust awards are intended to highlight distinctive and outstanding work in promoting public health by maintaining and advancing standards of food and nutrition.  Traditionally the Caroline Walker has offered four awards; however, over the years, these have changed to reflect the dynamic environment in which the Trust operates,” remarked Anka Johnston, Chair of the CWT.

“This year, the Trust has offered six awards, which also includes a Lifetime Achievement award, Charity Food Campaigner of the Year, Nutritionist of the Year and Freelance Nutritionist of the Year and Media Campaigner of the Year.”

The official shortlist of the CWT 30^th Anniversary Awards showcases the high calibre of individuals working in a variety of mediums to improve the quality of our food and the nation’s diet.  The final shortlisted nominees for Media Food Campaigner of the Year comprised Rhiannon Lambert, Sabine Goodwin, Pixie Turner, Early Start Nutrition and AfN Twitter.

“The aim is to highlight the great work of individuals and teams who operate within the media environment, to support those who are continuing to make a difference while inspiring a new generation of media food campaigners to do likewise,” said Anka Johnston, Chair of the CWT.

“I’m very honoured to have been shortlisted for the CWT 30^th Anniversary ‘Media Food Campaigner of the Year’ award for my work on behalf of IFAN.  Here’s hoping we’ll see the end of the need for charitable food aid as soon as possible,” responded Sabine Goodwin, Coordinator at the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN).

 “I truly believe all health professionals have a responsibility to share their evidence-based advice far beyond the confines of a clinic or hospital with social media the most accessible platform for us to champion positive change. With an ever-increasing number of self-proclaimed health gurus born online whose nutritional qualification is nothing more than a lifetime of eating, we must fight the culture of celebrities emerging as authorities on nutrition and health,” Rhiannon Lambert, Registered Nutritionist.

“We feel very honoured to be shortlisted for the Caroline Walker Trust Awards. The @AfNutr team are passionate about providing evidence-based, practical messages around food, diet and health to a wide audience through social media.  We are grateful to our followers for their incredible support and positive feedback” responded Dr Laura Wyness, Registered Nutritionist, AfN Twitter

“We are so honoured to be shortlisted for the CWT Food Media Campaigner of the Year.  It’s so important for us to use media in a positive way to share evidence-based advice to improve health outcomes,” commented a spokesperson from Early Start Nutrition.

CWT would like to congratulate all the shortlisted nominees and everyone who submitted nominations.  CWT would also like to thank the Judges for their hard work in drawing up the shortlist from a very impressive list of nominations.

–ends—

Notes to the Editor

1. For information on the background to the awards and how the result was arrived see: https://www.cwt.org.uk/cwt-announce-awards-short-list/

2. The Caroline Walker Trust was founded in 1989 after the death of the distinguished nutritionist, writer and campaigner Caroline Walker. Established to continue her work and in her spirit, the CWT works tirelessly to promote the improvement of public health through good food. The work of CWT is particularly targeted towards vulnerable groups and people who need special help.

3. This year is the 30^th anniversary of the Trust and the theme for the evening is Affordable food: Affordable health. The speakers included Felicity Lawrence, Guardian Journalist; Peter Stefanovic, Social Injustice Campaigner and distinguished Lawyer; and Dan Crossley, Executive Director at the Food Ethics Council.

4. The Caroline Walker Trust Logo:

5. Rhiannon Lambert is a Registered Nutritionist specialising in weight management, eating disorders and sports nutrition. Founder of the leading Harley Street clinic Rhitrition, bestselling author of Re-Nourish: A Simple Way To Eat Well and Food For Thought podcast host. Registered with the Association for Nutrition (RNutr), Rhiannon obtained a first-class Bachelor (BSc) degree in Nutrition and Health and a Master’s (MSc) degree in Obesity, Risks and Prevention. She is also a Master Practitioner in Eating Disorders and Obesity having obtained a diploma from The National Centre For Eating Disorders approved by The British Psychological Society (BPS).  https://rhitrition.com/
6. The @AfNutr Twitter team are Registered Nutritionists Vicki Pyne, Lynn Burns, Dr Suzanne Zaremba and Dr Laura Wyness. @AfNutr ‘s target audience is registered nutritionists, but others are also welcome irrespective of their background, occupation or experience on twitter. AfNutr’s followers include registered dietitians, medics, teachers and members of the public, as well as nutritionists. The @AfNutr Twitter webpage is https://afnutr.wordpress.com.

7. Sabine Goodwin was a television news and investigative journalist. Sabine now coordinates the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) and advocates on behalf of its members. Sabine is challenging the government on their policies towards poverty to eradicate food poverty. In 2017 Sabine created a database of independent food banks working across the UK, that highlighted how many food banks were outside the mainstream funded activities.  In addition to the Trussell Trust’s 1200 food banks, Sabine has discovered another 800 hidden food banks, making a total of 2000. Her research was first published in the Guardian in May 2017.  Since then, Sabine has raised the profile of independent food aid providers with the media, ministers, academics and other charities. Sabine works collaboratively with others, including running a joint project with ‘A Menu for Change’ to collate food parcel distribution data from Scottish independent food banks and with Sustain and other members of the End Hunger UK alliance to highlight food insecurity. Sabine also worked as the producer of Food Bank As It Is – a play depicting the reality of food banks.  Added to this Sabine is also now working independently of IFAN with Dr Rachel Loopstra at Kings College London undertaking research on independent food banks in England.

8. Pixie Turner started the Instagram account and blog ‘Plantbased Pixie’ in 2014, which has now grown to over 100,000 followers. Under this brand name, she worked as a blogger, social media influencer, speaker, writer, events organiser, and freelance Nutritionist she specialises in healthy plant-based recipes and debunking nutrition myths in the wellness industry.

9. The Early Start Nutrition team promote positive attitudes and enjoyment of nutritious food to ensure the best possible start in life for all! The team have developed invaluable resources and training material to promote evidence-based messages to tackle nutrition inequalities and improve the health and well-being of young children and their families. 

10. The Early Start Nutrition team has been at the heart of communities in East London for over 20 years providing support services for children, families and professionals. Their Association for Nutrition registered nutritionists, Edwina Revel and Georgia Leech, are some of the UK’s leading professionals in the industry delivering evidence-based interventions with a proven track record of improving health outcomes. The team are renowned for the delivery of projects that meet best practice and reduce inequalities in child development, health and life chances. Their priority is to ensure that all children have equal opportunities to receive ample nutrition and recognise the early years as a key time to build foundations that support children to be healthier.

11. Early Start Nutrition deliver services shaped around local and national policies which are translated into practical and accessible services. They have represented their profession at national and international conferences and are frequently featured in leading early year’s magazines. The team are experts in maternal, child and family nutrition and have supported the London Borough of Newham to reduce the number of children who are overweight at reception by 2.5%! The team are currently working with the Dental Wellness Trust to ensure children in Newham have the opportunity to have healthier smiles byintegrating a Supervised Tooth Brushing programme into their daily routines. Visit their website to find out more about their full range of services https://www.earlystartgroup.com/nutrition/.