The British Library has announced the winners of the 2026 Food Season Awards, shining a light on some of the most innovative voices in food writing, curation and culture. Now in its second year, the awards celebrate those positively impacting the UK food scene and the power of archival resources, including the Library's unique food-related collections.
Food Season on Display Award winner, School Dinners, Food Museum.
Food Season Food Hero Award winner, Eyram Dzoti, founder of Garden of Afruika.
Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award: The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen by Shahnaz Ahsan.
Food Season & Vittles Food Stories Fellowship Prize, awarded to Georgia Affonso.
- Food Season Food Hero Award: Eyram Dzoti, founder of Garden of Afruika (GOA)
- Food Season & Vittles Food Stories Fellowship Prize: Georgia Affonso for her exploration of how the frozen dessert industry is evolving in the face of the climate crisis
- Food Season Food on Display Award: School Dinners, Food Museum
- Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award: The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen by Shahnaz Ahsan
Dr Polly Russell, Head of the Eccles Institute for the Americas at the British Library and Food Season founder, said: ‘The British Library is thrilled to crown the 2026 winners of the Food Season Awards. The awards champion changemakers in the food industry, highlight the value of narrative cookery writing, support new food writing through our Fellowship with Vittles magazine and celebrate fantastic curation taking place in archives and museums. The Library’s rich food-related collections, freely available to everyone, are a cornerstone in developing the awards.’
The 2026 British Library Food Season Awards were judged by this year’s Food Season Champion, Michelin-star chef and author Angela Hartnett, as well as Head of Eccles Institute for the Americas at the British Library and founder of Food Season, Dr Polly Russell,and award-winning food writers and Food Season co-directors, Angela Clutton and Melissa Thompson. The Vittles magazine editorial team, artist and food historian Natasha Marks and previous Food Season Awards winner, who authored The Balkan Kitchen, Irina Janakievska served as guest judges.
With thanks to Stuart Mackaness for his generous support of this year’s Food Season Awards.
The Food Season Awards are coordinated by cultural events facilitator Joe Allen.
Food Season Food Hero Award: Eyram Dzoti
As voted by the public, the Food Season Food Hero Award celebrates an individual who has positively impacted food culture. This year’s winner, Eyram Dzoti, is the brain behind Garden of Afruika (GOA) – a community-rooted, African-Caribbean plant-based food project that hosts workshops, cooking clubs, supper clubs and more around London. GOA emphasises shared experiences that are grounded in memory, connection and African-Caribbean cuisine's long history. By nourishing those around him with fresh food, Eyram uses flavour as a powerful tool to connect different diasporas, generations and strangers.
The judges said: ‘Eyram is a worthy Food Season Food Hero. He makes an incredible impact in and around London by building and sustaining community and connecting people to heritage, happiness and health through different food and growing initiatives’.
Food Season & Vittles Food Stories Fellowship Prize: Georgia Affonso
Georgia Affonso is granted the Food Season & Vittles Food Stories Fellowship Prize, which funds at least two weeks exploring the Library’s extensive food-related collections and accessing curatorial support.
Georgia will also be mentored by Vittles editors when writing her suggested article, which will explore the histories of frozen dessert vendors across cultures and examine how the industry is evolving in the face of the climate emergency. The finished article will be published in Vittles magazine.
The judges said: ‘Georgia’s proposed project exploring the changing story of the ice trade and snow cones in Guyana drawing on her family’s experience promises to illuminate a little-documented history and highlight unique Library sources. We can’t wait to read the finished article.’
Food Season Food on Display Award: School Dinners, Food Museum
The Food Season Food on Display Award celebrates the most innovative use of food in an exhibition in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland. It was awarded to the Food Museum, Suffolk, for its exhibition School Dinners.
Through school dinners, the Food Museum engaged visitors across generations in a powerful display that blends nostalgia and politics. The Museum also explored the intersection of shared histories and personal memories, encouraging children visiting the exhibition to reflect on their current school food in comparison to dinners of the past.
The judges said: ‘The Food Museum’s exhibition does an incredible job of telling a rich, emotive and at times surprising story of school dinners by activating visitor memory through lively displays and opportunities to taste.’
Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award: The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen by Shahnaz Ahsan
The British Library Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award celebrates a recipe book that illustrates the power of food, connecting cooking to the wider world through shared stories, histories and cultures.
In The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen, author Shahnaz Ahsan uses family recipes to plot a tale of migration, love and identity in the search for one’s home. Ahsan guides readers through the captivating story of Bengali food and its place in Britain, using the arrival of her grandfather in 1950s Manchester to explore the broader Bangladeshi diaspora’s quest for a new life in Britain and beyond.
The judges said: ‘The Jackfruit Chronicles is a triumph – utterly immersive and rich with details. Shahnaz's writing is transportive and the recipes are delicious. It is a beautifully comprehensive memoir covering identity, movement and food from a British-Bangladeshi perspective.’
Notes to editors
For media enquiries, please contact press@bl.uk
About the British Library
We are the national library of the UK and we are here for everyone. Our shelves hold over 170 million items – a living collection that gets bigger every day. Although our roots extend back centuries, we aim to collect everything published in the UK today, tomorrow and far into the future. Our trusted experts care for this collection and open it up for everyone to spark new discoveries, ideas and to help people do incredible things.
We have millions of books, and much more besides. Our London and Yorkshire sites hold collections ranging from newspapers and maps to sound recordings, patents, academic journals, as well as a copy of every UK domain website and blog. Our public spaces provide a place to research, to meet friends, to start up a new business or simply to get inspired by visiting our galleries and events. We work with partners and libraries across the UK and the world to make sure that as many people as possible have the chance to use and explore our collections, events and expertise. And we're always open online, along with more and more of our digitised collection.
See: www.bl.uk
About Vittles
Vittles is an award-winning magazine about modern food and culture, based in the UK and India. It publishes essays about all aspects of food culture, from deep dives to polemics, from personal essays to reported journalism, as well as restaurant recommendations, recipes, and reviews.