What are the Good Food Awards?
January 19, 2024
- News
In an effort to not bury the lead, Sqirl has been nominated for a 2023 good food award for its Mulberry Jam. But you may be asking "What is good?" "Where is good food?" "Who is making it?" and ultimately "What are the Good Food Awards?"
The Good Food Awards exist to celebrate and connect the passionate and engaged, yet often overlooked, players in the food system who are driving towards tasty and responsible food. We were fortunate enough to be named a finalist this year for, we like to think, some of those very reasons.
Our mulberry jam is quite literally nothing without Holly Vesecky our supplier for these fantastic and rare berries who works tirelessly to help us get our hands on as many of the fussiest mulberry around as we can. We have to move quick, because Oscar mulberries disintegrate before our eyes yet the result is a snapshot in a bottle, a moment in time, and exactly why we got into preserving in the first place.
In addition to their Riverside birthplace at the hands of the naturalist Oscar Clark, the Oscar mulberry also comes from indigenous stock. One of its parents being the red mulberry (Moris Rubra) that is native to N America. The Moris Rubra were used, in dried from, by the Muskogee people & the Cherokee mixed cornmeal and sugar with them in order to make sweet dumplings.
A cross between the old world and the new, this mulberry has it all: rich history, tantalizing evanescence, & scrumptious flavor. No wonder we only have 18 jars left until next season.
On top of being overjoyed to be a good food award finalist, an award that is so meaningful and in line with our values & goals, we have also realized how quietly some of the fantastic, hard working, holistic, & environmentally conscientious makers go about their magic. Some of our favorite producers fly totally under the radar and never apply to awards like Good Food's!
We try our best to herald these trend setting makers in our Sqirl Away market (right next to the restaurant) so come check out some of the folks who should be nominated right alongside some of the folks who've won the award already (look for a little blue square to designate past winners' products).
