Several Northern Michigan food businesses earned Good Food Awards for their craft products that support sustainability and social good. Winners include Food for Thought for Blueberry Lavender Organic Preserves, Fresh Coast Chocolate for Belize 70%, L. Mawby for Bright & Century, Higher Grounds for Yirgacheffe Idido and Bear Creek Organic Farm for Boyne Honey.
(See the full list of winners here.)

 

Congratulations to our local winners! 


HONOR: Food For Thought (FFT), an organic specialty foods company, has been recognized as a winner by the Good Food Awards (GFA) for its best-selling organic preserves, Blueberry Lavender. Now in its seventh year, the Good Food Awards seal, “assures consumers they have found something exceptionally delicious which also supports sustainability and social good,” according to the organization’s website.

FFT’s founder and president, Timothy Young, says, “There’s no greater honor in our industry. Good Food Awards shares our values that combine top-end gourmet quality with a deep commitment to environmental responsibility and agricultural justice.”

[Food for Thought is expanding. Check out the new location.]

Products are submitted in 14 categories, with GFA receiving 2,059 entries, which were divided up regionally. FFT submitted two organic preserves for the preserves category in the central region, which includes a total of 11 states. Thirty-eight states were represented in the judging.

Blind tasting narrowed down the submissions to 291 finalists, all which must meet GFA’s criteria for ingredients that are foraged or grown with: transparency in the supply chain; no high fructose corn syrup or any artificial ingredients, preservatives or colors; no GMOs; a balanced objective of local, organic and highest quality; and spices that are fair trade and traceable to the farm level. FFT grows the lavender used in its Blueberry Lavender preserves on its 10-acre, USDA-certified organic farm based in Honor. The blueberries come from Pleasant Hill Farm in Fennville, which has been providing certified organic blueberries since 1977.

The second FFT submission, Great Lakes Pear Organic Preserves, earned Finalist recognition from GFA as well. Twenty-seven judges were assigned to the preserves category, including chefs, food writers, and food company founders, owners and buyers.

Blueberry Lavender Organic Preserves was one of the first items produced for FFT’s product line, which includes salsas, mustards, preserves and wild-harvested products.

FFT’s Blueberry Lavender Organic Preserves can be found in Traverse City area stores including Oryana, Burritt’s and Suhm-thing, as well as on the Food For Thought website.

– Press release provided by Food for Thought


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Photo(s) by Food for Thought