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Ex-Navy chef & octogenarian cheesemaker make it to finals of Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards
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An ex-Navy chef turned dinner 'laddie', a venison farmer and an octogenarian
who started making cheese when she'd turned 60 are on the shortlist for
the 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards 2006.
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Previous winners include Jeanette Orrey, the dinner lady who inspired Jamie
Oliver's school meals campaign; Al Crisci, the prison chef who encourages
inmates to get qualifications; and Mike 'Kipperman' Smyllie, passionate promoter
of the traditional British Herring.
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This year's finalists will be featured on Radio 4's The Food Programme and
Farming Today as well as on 91Èȱ¬ Local Radio.
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Created in 2000 to celebrate the people and organisations who produce and
promote the best of British food, the awards, in partnership with 91Èȱ¬ Local
Radio, aim to find the Best Food Producer, Best Take-Away and the Farmer of The
Year.
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The other awards are: the Best Dinner Lady, Best Local Food Retailer,
Best Regional/National Retail Initiative, 91Èȱ¬ Food Personality of the Year and
The Derek Cooper Special Award.
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The 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards 2006 will take place on Friday 24
November at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Chamberlain Square,
Birmingham.
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The chair of this year's judging panel is the cook and food writer Nigel
Slater.
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Nigel says of this year's awards: "As Chair of the Judges it has been a great privilege to have this opportunity
to celebrate some of the many hundreds of people nominated for this year's Food
and Farming Awards.
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"These are an amazingly diverse group of people - farmers,
dinner ladies, retailers and cooks - working across the UK to make good
quality, delicious food available to us all. This is our chance to celebrate
their achievements."
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The nominees for this year's awards are:
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Best Food Producer
 Diana Smart, cheesemaker - Gloucester
Robin and June Small, orchard owners - Taunton, Somerset
Fletchers of Auchtermuchty, venison farmers - Fife
Iain Spink, producer of smoked haddock - Arboath, Angus
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Best Dinner Lady/Laddie
Gerard 'Trigger' Rogers, Chef Manager - St Luke's School, Southsea
John Tempest, The Bradford Soup Run - Bradford, Yorkshire
Melissa Plowden-Roberts and Mandy Harris - Milton Road Primary School,
Cambridge
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Best Take-away
Loe Beach Café - Feock, Cornwall
Matchbox Café - Highgate, Birmingham
i-eat-t - Acomb, York
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Best Local Food Retailer
Tully's of Rothbury - Northumberland
Latimers Shellfish Deli - Whitburn, Tyne & Wear
The Chadwick Family's Emporium of Fine Foods - Wigan, Lancs
Northern Harvest - Warrington, Lancs
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Best Regional/National Retail Initiative
Booths
Marks & Spencer
Waitrose
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The Farming Today Award for Farmer of the Year
The Kelly Family - Kelly Turkeys, Danbury, Essex
Laurence Harris - Dairy farmer and co-founder of Trioni, Boncath,
Pembrokeshire
David and Wilma Finlay - Dairy farmers and ice-cream makers, Rainton,
Dumfries and Galloway
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The Derek Cooper Special Award for Best Food Campaigner/Educator
Greenpeace
The Caroline Walker Trust
Rt Hon Michael Meacher MP
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91Èȱ¬ Food Personality of the Year
Won last year by the ever popular Jamie Oliver, this award is decided by
listeners' votes and will be revealed on the night.
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The awards ceremony, hosted by Sheila Dillon, will feature in a special edition
of Radio 4's The Food Programme on Sunday 26 November at 12.30pm,
repeated on Monday 27 November at 4.00pm.
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Notes to Editors
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The Food Programme is on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 every Sunday at 12.30pm and
repeated on Mondays at 4.00pm. Farming Today is on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 every weekday
at 5.45am and on Saturdays at 6.35am. You can listen again online at
bbc.co.uk/radio4.
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The finalists in the Farmer of the Year category will be featured on
Farming Today in the week of the awards ceremony.
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This year's judging panel is: Robert Clark, retail analyst; Sheila
Dillon, presenter of The Food Programme; Professor Martin Wiseman; Roopa Gulati, chef, writer
and broadcaster; Dr Martin Caraher from the Centre for Food Policy
at City University; and Elinor Goodman.
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EH
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