CALT Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships
Introduction
Mid Atlantic Arts partners with Grow Appalachia of Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association on the Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships. These fellowships honor, celebrate, and support foodways tradition bearers in Central Appalachia who have made significant contributions to sustaining and supporting the foodways heritage of their communities.
Fellows may include home cooks and bakers, seed savers, farmers, community elders, keepers of recipes and traditional foodways knowledge, hunters, and foragers. Fellows must be from an Appalachian Regional Commission-designated county. Priority is given to applicants from Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Each Fellow receives $5,000 in unrestricted funding and a unique physical award created by an Appalachian traditional artist. The Fellows are honored each year at the Appalachian Studies Association Annual Conference.
The Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships are part of Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions program.
Eligibility and Schedule
2025 Program Now Open
- Application Open: Thursday, September 5, 2024
- Applications Due: Thursday, October 31, 2024
- Award Ceremony at 2025 Appalachian Studies Association Conference: March 20-22, 2025, at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN
Previous Fellows
2024 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows:
- Jim Embry, Richmond, KY
Social and environmental justice activist, farmer, Founder and Director of the Sustainable Communities Network, and James Beard Foundation Leadership Award winner - Dr. Mehmet Öztan, Reedsville, WV
Seed keeper, farmer, scholar, and Founder of Two Seeds in a Pod Heirloom Seed Company and the Anatolian Seeds Recovery and Preservation Project - Bea Sias, Logan County, WV
Gardener, home gardening educator, advocate, and Grow Appalachia Coordinator at Step by Step WV
Learn more about the 2024 Fellows here. The 2024 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows were honored at an awards ceremony and invited to present at the 2024 Appalachian Studies Association Annual Conference in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Each Fellow also received a fermentation crock created by clay artist Clarence Hayes of Bobtown Arts.
2023 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows:
- Femeika Elliott: Knoxville, Tennessee
- Sergio Herrera: Mifflintown, Pennsylvania
- Jason B. Tartt, Sr.: Berwind, West Virginia
Learn more about the 2023 Fellows here. The 2023 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows were honored at an awards ceremony and invited to present at the 2023 Appalachian Studies Association Annual Conference in Athens, Ohio. In addition to $4,000 monetary awards, each 2023 Fellow received a unique physical award created by Berea College Student Craft.
2022 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows:
- Yawah Awolowo: Knoxville, Tennessee
- Travis and Rebecka Fugate: Emmalena, Kentucky
- Wayne Riley: London, Kentucky
Learn more about the 2022 fellows here. Each 2022 Fellow received a unique physical award created by West Virginia ceramicist Joy Bridy.
