The National Resources Defense Council, NRDC,  has announced its second annual Growing Green Awards to honor farmers, business leaders and promoters of sustainable food. A $10,000 cash prize will be awarded for extraordinary contributions that advance ecologically integrated farming practices, climate stewardship, water stewardship, farmland preservation, and social responsibility from farm to fork.

To be eligible, farmers or other food producers must demonstrate innovation in promoting ecologically-integrated food systems. This may include minimizing inputs of energy, water, and chemicals; reducing pollution and global warming gas emissions; use of on-farm polyculture; increasing natural resilience; and stewardship of biodiversity, pollinators, open space and land resources.

The Growing Green Awards selection panel consists of Susan Clark, Executive Director, Columbia Foundation; A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of Agriculture, California Department of Food and Agriculture; Michael Pollan, distinguished author on food, agriculture, and the environment, and Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley; and Nora Pouillon, Chef and founder of Restaurant Nora, the nation’s first certified organic restaurant.