Free Press dining critic Lyndsay C. Green wins James Beard Award
At the James Beard Media Awards in Chicago on Saturday, June 14, Detroit Free Press restaurant and dining critic Lyndsay C. Green won another highly coveted James Beard Media Award.
It was early May that the James Beard Foundation announced its media awards nominees with Green nominated for a James Beard Award in the Foodways category.
According to the James Beard Foundation website, the Foodways award “ … recognizes the importance of culture and history in food journalism. Entries in this category explore the connection between what we eat and who we are, with an emphasis on reporting.”
Green was nominated for her 2024 series on urban farming, titled “As Detroit sees a future in urban agriculture, some pushback harkens to a dark past.”
"Being in this James Beard conversation for the past three years now feels like a true blessing," Green said when the nomination was first announced in early May. "I still consider myself a new food writer, so this recognition is a real honor. Being a nominee in two different categories at this point also shows a range of food writing. I'm so grateful that I'm able to explore food in so many ways at the Free Press."
Detroit Free Press Restaurant and dining critic Lyndsay C. Green.
Other Foodways nominees were Robert Kunzig of Food & Environment Reporting Network and Switchyard for “Transforming the Delta: Climate change is creating opportunities to turn America’s poorest region into a fruit- and vegetable-growing hub” and Easter’s Nylah Iqbal Muhammad for “Grief, Solidarity, and Molokhia.”
Green's reporting explored the progress and potential of farming efforts in Detroit as a pioneering city for urban agriculture. She said the project allowed her to dig into tensions between generations of Detroiters.
“As the city leaned into more urban farming initiatives, I noticed that many of those Great Migration-era Detroiters and the generation that followed them were pushing back,” she said.
She explored the forces behind those tensions in the thought-provoking package while painting a picture of the city's overall agricultural landscape.
In accepting her award, Green thanked Khalil AlHajal, her editor, and Nicole Avery Nichols, editor and vice president of the Free Press, for “allowing me to pursue a story like this.”
“It's not often that I get to cover urban farming, but it's a passion of mine,” Green said at the awards. “It's something that I just think that we leave a lot on the table when we don't cover farming, and it's such a big part of our food system. It's the first part of our food system, are the most important part.”
This is Green’s second James Beard Award.
In 2023, Green was the recipient of a James Beard Journalism Award for Emerging Voice. It was the same year that the Free Press' documentary film "Coldwater Kitchen," took home a James Beard Foundation media award for best documentary. That same year, Green was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for criticism.
In 2024, Green was nominated for the prestigious Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award, named after the late Los Angeles Times restaurant critic, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2018. The award last year ultimately went to Mike Jordan of Atlanta Magazine.
Local freelance writer Mickey Lyons, was also nominated this year in the foundation's Media Award Beverage category. Lyons piece “Detroit’s Third-Shift Bars Were a Lifeline. Now They’re a Dying Breed” for Punch earned her the nomination.
The award ultimately went to Craig Sauers whose “Want to Make Spirits in Thailand? Good Luck” for Punch.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: [email protected]. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
