Here is good food you can feel good about. It’s no surprise to anyone who follows food in the northwest knows that the movement to create a more sustainable food culture is well underway. This means that Oregon residents and visitors have access to the highest-quality food experience at home and on the road. That deliciousness was recently rewarded by the Good Food Awards, a competition that judges food entries from around the country.
The panel convened by The Good Food Foundation whittled down 2,000 entries through blind-judging to just three per category for each of four US regions. The “Northern” region includes Oregon and Washington and stretches east to South Dakota. The following 17 producers in Oregon took home 21 awards, surpassing the other states.
Winners of each category are chosen because they uphold certain values. Coffee producers, for instance, must be able to trace their roasts back to the farm and follow Fair Trade minimum standards, among other things. Honey winners must practice good animal husbandry, including using minimal chemical interventions, providing non-GMO nutrition and locating hives more than a five-mile radius from agrochemical use. You can feel good about buying any of these winners.
Here are Oregon’s 2020 Good Food Award winners:
Willamette Valley
Alchemist’s Jam, McMinnville (Raspberry Cardamom Rosehip Preserves)
Briar Rose Creamery, Dundee (Maia)
Mountain Rose Herbs, Eugene (Passion Chocolate Elixir)
Mt. Hope Farms, Molalla (Aronia Haskap Fruit Spread)
WildCraft Cider Works, Eugene (Pisgah Heritage)
Central Oregon
JEM Organics, Bend (Cinnamon Maca Almond Butter and Coffee Cashew Almond Butter
Northern Oregon
Batch PDX, Beaverton (Hazelnut Coffee Crunch)
Creo Chocolate, Portland (Caramelized Milk Chocolate)
How Sweet It Is, Portland (Rosemary Pecan Brittle Bites)
Jacobsen Salt Co., Portland (Sauvie Island Honey)
JAZ Spirits, Clackamas (Cold Tree Gin and Verstovia Spruce Tip Vodka)
Little Beast Brewing, Beaverton (Bes-Tart Wheat Ale and Golden Stone)
Loma Coffee, Portland (Ethiopia Shantawene Village – Anaerobic Process)
Olympia Provisions, Portland (Chorizo Rioja and Rosette de Oregon)
Oregon Brineworks, Hood River (Sauerkraut)
PUSH X PULL Coffee, Portland (Ethiopia Sidama Shantawene Anaerobic Process)
Southern Oregon
Case Coffee Roasters, Ashland (Ethiopia Dimtu)
Whether it’s honey, coffee, jam, or pickles, Oregon producers fill local grocery store shelves with superior products. Most shops stock local foods because they know that the farmer, cheesemaker, or brewer down the road uses the freshest produce, the sweetest water, and the happiest animals.
Take a drive down an Oregon back road and buy some of these delicious treats right from the farms themselves. Or, if you’re on the go when you’re looking for award-winning foods, look for the blue Good Food Awards seal on the shelves of grocers who are taking care to stock the finest examples of Oregon’s foods.
Photo credit: Kassie Borreson
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2018 Good Food Awards Find Gold in Oregon Artisans
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