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 Closed
- 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
2025 Fellows
The New Opportunity School for Women – Sam Cole, Development and Communications Coordinator, Berea, KY
Gardening, canning, nutrition, and health education in Eastern Kentucky
Chris Smith, Leicester, NC
Seed saver, permaculturist, author of the James Beard Award-winning book The Whole Okra, and Executive Director of the Utopian Seed Project
Ronnie Marie Tartt, McDowell County, WV
Homemaker, grower, cook, entrepreneur, keeper of traditional foodways knowledge, creator of “Mama’s Meat Sauce,” available through Appalachian Gold.
Marcus West, Franklin, NC
Farmer, butcher, and keeper of his family’s legacy caring for the land in Western North Carolina
Learn more about the Fellows here. The 2025 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows will be honored at an awards ceremony and are invited to present at the 2025 Appalachian Studies Association Annual Conference in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Previous Fellows
Hear more about previous Foodways Fellows here.
