This local won the 2024 Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence

The Birmingham FOOD + Culture Festival has named Glenn Roberts, founder of Anson Mills, the 2024 recipient of Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence. Roberts was named due to his dedication to preserving and enhancing Southern culinary traditions.

Keep reading to learn all about the award + this year’s recipient!

Chef Frank Stitt + the award’s purpose

Stitt is the 2023 honoree and namesake of the Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence. The award is named after him to honor his passion for the foodways of Alabama and the American South.

Stitt has won several awards over the course of his culinary career and is the owner and executive chef of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant, Bottega Cafe and Chez Fon Fon in Birmingham.

Each year, FOOD + Culture Festival partners with Chef Stitt and his family to present the award.

Glenn Roberts + his culinary contributions

This year’s award recipient, Glenn Roberts, founded Anson Mills in 1998 in Charleston, South Carolina, with the mission to restore lost foods of the 18th and 19th century Southern Pantry. Today, Anson Mills grows and produces artisan ingredients for chefs and home cooks worldwide.

Additionally, Anson Mills provides culinary research support for chefs, bakers, brewers and distillers through the Anson Mills Research Lab.

The company also offers pro-bono seed biosecurity for Southern organic and landrace crop farmers.

“I got to to be a part of choosing this year’s recipient, Glenn Roberts, who to me, is one of the most knowledgeable people in the food world. He has Anson Mills, and he has single handedly been responsible for bringing back crops like Carolina Gold Rice, Sea Island Peas and all kinds of Jimmy Red Corn.

As a geneticist, he was able to search out these rare varieties of southern crops, vegetables, get enough seeds and enlist farmers to bring them back into production.“

Chef Frank Stitt

FOOD+ Frank will honor Roberts

The 2024 Birmingham FOOD + Culture Festival is back this September 19-22. As part of the festival, Glenn Roberts will be celebrated at the FOOD + Frank event with a cocktail reception at The Birmingham Museum of Art.

You can enjoy bites by acclaimed local and regional chefs and signature drinks and wines curated by Alabama’s only Master Sommelier Thomas Price.

Early bird tickets for FOOD + Frank will be available for purchase starting July 10.

• Where: The Birmingham Museum of Art
• When: Thursday, September 19 | 5:30-8:30PM
• More info

What do you think of this exciting award + event? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know!