By Donna Cornelius
From gathering for Sunday dinners to preserving grandmother’s treasured recipes, Southerners take their food customs seriously.
So, it makes sense that this year’s Birmingham FOOD+Culture Festival is presenting a prestigious award to a man in the forefront of celebrating, preserving and enhancing Southern culinary traditions.
Glenn Roberts, founder of Anson Mills in Charleston, South Carolina, is the 2024 recipient of the Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence, which FOOD+Culture started to honor individuals who have significant positive influence in their communities as well as the culinary industry at large. Last year’s honoree was Stitt himself.
The festival, set for Sept. 19-22, debuted just last year, but it’s already started its own tradition of success. The four-day event drew visitors from 18 states, generated positive press and even made USA Today’s list of the 10 best new festivals in the U.S.
Return to Native Soil
Roberts founded Anson Mills in 1998 with the mission to rematriate lost foods of the 18th and 19th centuries South. Early on, he grew Carolina Gold rice, which is a variety of African long-grain rice first popularized in South Carolina. Today, Anson Mills also offers prized wholesale and retail products such as native coarse blue corn grits, cornmeal, polenta, wheat and rye flours, oats, Sea Island red peas and benne seeds.
Another facet of the company is its culinary research support for pastry chefs, bakers, brewers and distillers through the Anson Mills Research Lab.
Stitt has high praise for Roberts.
“Anson Mills and the work of Glenn Roberts is truly transformative – making the world a better place to live, eat, farm and cook,” Stitt said. “His work improves the pantry for all of us Southern cooks. He is like a culinary anthropologist who seeks that remote valley where an old-fashioned farmer has been saving seeds for countless generations, and he has been able to grow sufficient seed stock to bring back varieties on the verge of extinction.”
Roberts is a recipient of the USA Artisan of the Year and National Pathfinder Award and is a founder of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation.
Cathy Sloss Jones, Sloss Real Estate CEO/president and FOOD+Culture’s board president, called Glenn’s dedication to preserving the South’s culinary heritage and supporting sustainable farming practices “truly inspiring.”
“His innovative approach not only enriches our culinary experiences but also strengthens our community’s connection to our agricultural roots,” she said. “In the state of Alabama, we have a rich history of farming, and we remain committed to supporting sustainable practices that honor and continue this legacy.”
A reception honoring Roberts will be held at the Birmingham Museum of Art on Sept. 19. It will feature passed bites by acclaimed local and regional chefs as well as signature drinks and wines curated by Thomas Price, Alabama’s only master sommelier.
In addition to the Frank Stitt Award, other popular features of last year’s festival are making a return this year. They include:
• FOOD+Heritage – a multi-course dinner celebrating Birmingham’s Greek food roots and flavors.
• Southern Living’s FOOD+Fire – a tasting event celebrating barbecue, live-fire cooking and the South’s tailgate culture.
• FOOD+Friends Dinner Series – public dinners around the city featuring surprise pop-up menus from guest chefs in participating restaurants.
For more information about these and other festival events, visit bhamfoodplus.com, and follow @bhamfoodplus on social media for updates. Early bird tickets for FOOD+Frank and other 2024 Birmingham FOOD+Culture Festival events are available for purchase on the website starting July 10.
