Our Food Security Journalism Award winner for 2019 is…

August 12, 2019

Natalie Parletta, a freelance science writer, was announced as the winner of our Food Security Journalism Award by The Hon John Anderson AO, Chair of the Crawford Fund at the annual conference dinner on 12 August.

The Crawford Fund’s Food Security Journalism Award is part of our commitment to encourage working Australian journalists to delve into the important roles that agricultural research, training and rural development play in global food security.

This year’s winning article, “Foods you’ve never heard of that could change the world”, published in Cosmos Magazine, highlighted work underway in African and Australia reviving traditional food crops which has resulted in broader impacts – sustainability, equality, social justice, nutrient security and a reclamation of amazing flavours.

The prize for this Award is a ‘seeing is believing’ working visit to a developing country. Now in its seventh year, we have supported radio, print and TV journalists with visits to Morocco, India, Timor Leste, Colombia and Nepal. These visits result in significant media coverage of issues related to agricultural development and food and nutrition security to a wide Australian audience.

This year’s judging panel included the Crawford Fund’s Cathy Reade, Jenni Metcalfe from Econnect Communication, as the nominee of the Australian Council for Agricultural Journalists, and Dr Daniel Walker, Chief Scientist from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) as the agricultural science member.

“Thank you to all those who entered. The coverage of food security issues in Australia, of agriculture, science and research beyond our backyard, is growing and we look forward to working with Natalie to find some really great projects to visit,” said Cathy.

The announcement of our Food Security Journalism Award has become a feature of our annual conference dinner.

The Crawford Fund thanks all the entrants to this year’s award. The other finalists are listed below in no particular order:

  1. ‘The impact of climate inaction on food security’ by Lisa Cornish, Devex
  2. ‘Growing the list of staples to fuel the world’ by Mike Foley, Australian Community Publishing
  3. ‘How beef cattle are helping lift Laos Women out of poverty’ by Mark Phelps, Australian Community Publishing
  4. The farmer ‘not in drought’ (starts at 17.50) by Olivia Ralph, ABC Rural
  5. “Dairy expert says Australian industry at ‘tipping point’ as demand puts pressure on supply” by Tyne Logan, ABC Rural, South West, WA
  6. ‘Food and Nutrition Security in Timor-Leste: Challenges and Prospects’ by Caleb Gorton, Future Directions International