Natural Resource Defense Council announces 2010 Growing Green Award winners

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With Earth Day right around the corner, Americans are planning eco-friendly festivities and vowing to practice green behaviors throughout the day. The Natural Resource Defense Council has honored some green leaders who make eco-friendly food choices throughout the year.

This is the second annual Growing Green Awards ceremony. The honor goes to farmers and food pioneers across the nation who help Americans rethink the food we eat and its impact on the environment. Officials from the NRDC scavenged to find people who were really making a difference in food sustainability last year. This year, the organization received 140 nominations, reports Tonic.com.

The growing interest in the awards indicates that Americans are getting increasingly involved in green food movements. It’s easy to see why. Between First Lady Michelle Obama’s new campaign to tackle obesity and food celebrities like Jamie Oliver landing television shows devoted to a U.S. "Food Revolution," food sustainability has had a premier role in mainstream media.

As a result, the 2010 Growing Green Award winners are a very select group of people who have been making significant strides in meeting Americans’ hunger for food that’s healthier for people and the planet.

Russ Lester won the Food Producer category for his Dixon Ridge Farms. The farm grows, buys and processes California organic walnuts. It has become a leading supplier worldwide. Lester has reduced the environmental impact of walnut orchards and processing with his services.

Fred Kirshenmann is another winner in the Thought Leaders category. For more than three decades, he has inspired sustainable food advocates and policymakers to work toward more eco-friendly food harvesting practices.

There are a number of other winners from varying food-related fields. But they all have something in common: "These innovators are saving energy, nurturing soils, reducing water use and showing all of us how to produce food in harmony with the environment," said Jonathan Kaplan, director of the Sustainable Agriculture Project at NRDC.

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