Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCOG) is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Southern Arizona Food Heroes Awards. The awards recognize leaders who shape and preserve the region’s food traditions and future.
Nominations are open through midnight, July 23, 2025. Winners will be honored during Tucson Meet Yourself on October 18, 2025.
Two Award Categories Celebrate Local Food Leadership
This year’s awards include two categories: Food Visionary and Jim Griffith Foodways Keeper.
The Food Visionary Award, presented with ¡Si Charro!, highlights school and community gardens. These gardens must use sustainable methods, apply traditional knowledge, and have existed for at least five years with stable funding.
“These gardens are living classrooms and vital community resources, showing us how to grow food in ways that honor tradition, sustainability, and community health,” said Jonathan Mabry, TCOG’s executive director. “We’re grateful to Carlotta Flores and ¡Si Charro! for supporting those leading us toward a better food future.”
The Jim Griffith Foodways Keeper Award, in partnership with the Southwest Folklife Alliance and the University of Arizona’s Southwest Center, honors home cooks and food artisans. Nominees must use heritage ingredients and techniques while sharing traditional food knowledge with the community.
“Named in honor of anthropologist and folklorist Jim Griffith, this award celebrates the home cooks and artisans whose quiet dedication sustains the food heritage and culinary traditions of the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands,” Mabry said.
Cash Prizes for Winners
First-place winners in each category will receive $1,500. Second-place winners will receive $500. TCOG will feature winners on its website, social media, and at the October awards ceremony.
How to Submit a Nomination
To nominate someone:
- Download the nomination form here.
- Submit the completed form along with at least one photo (maximum five), an optional 1–2 minute video (200 MB max), and up to two letters of support.
- Email all materials to tucsoncog@gmail.com by July 23.
A selection committee will announce the winners in August.
Celebrate Local Food Champions
Award presentations will take place during Tucson Meet Yourself, a folklife festival that showcases the region’s diversity and creativity in foodways.
“We look forward to celebrating these remarkable food heroes with our community at Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival, a festival that embodies the diversity and creativity of our region’s foodways,” Mabry said.
For more information, email tucsoncog@gmail.com.
To view the 2024 winners, read our July 2024 article Meet the Winners of the 2024 Food Heroes Awards.
Article written by:
Jackie Tran
More about JackieJackie Tran is a Tucson-based food writer, photographer, culinary educator, and owner-chef of the now-closed food truck Tran’s Fats. Although he is best known locally for his work for Tucson Foodie, his work has also appeared in publications such as Bon Appétit, National Geographic, and the New York Times.
An adventurous foodie, he enjoys culinary experiences ranging from seasonal omakase to sloppily devouring green chili patty melts in his car afterhours. His favorite foods include aguachile, garlic noodles, and leftover fried chicken illuminated by the fridge light. His favorite drinks include morning micheladas, fireside imperial stouts, candle-lit negroni, and grassy mezcales.
Outside of food, he also loves playing musical instruments, karaoke, Tetris, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and petting Addie’s dog Spaghetti.
If you’d like to stalk him, visit his Instagram @jackie_tran_ or jackietran.com.
