Chef Josh Kroner of Terrapin Restaurant in Rhinebeck, NY was one of three recipients of the 2014 Victoria A. Simons Locavore Award, which was presented at the Columbia County Fair on Labor day and included a $1000 cash award. In a surprise move, Chef Kroner chose to immediately donate the prize money back to the award fund to support the continued recognition of those promoting locavore values in the Hudson Valley.

The word Locavore was coined in San Francisco at the 2005 World Environment Day to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested within a 100-mile area. The Locavore movement encourages people to grow their own food; buy from farmer’s markets, CSAs, and other local food programs; and to patronize restaurants, caterers and other food preparers that feature local ingredients. The award is presented in memory of Vicki Simmons, who was a strong proponent of Locavore activities as part of her commitment to see greater use of locally produced food and to keep agriculture an integral part of the community experience.

Chef Kroner was recognized in particular for his most recent endeavor to instill locavore values in local youth through Terrapin’s Kids Taste & Talk program. On selected Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year, Chef Kroner transforms his restaurant’s dining room into an interactive classroom for kids, providing an informative and fun lesson and hands on cooking demonstration on healthy eating. The aim of the program is to share healthy food and assist enthusiastic kids from the Hudson Valley and beyond in finding answers to these questions, outside of the traditional school classroom: What’s good food? Where do we get it? Why should we eat it? The Taste and Talks are completely free to the community, and recommended for kids ages 8-12.

As a Hudson Valley Chef and Restaurateur, Chef Kroner has been a proponent and driving force behind the farm to table movement in the Hudson Valley for the past 16 years. His restaurant, Terrapin, supports local farms, uses local ingredients whenever possible and has been voted Best Restaurant in Dutchess County 4 of the last 5 years in Hudson Valley Magazine’s Best of Poll. He has also founded multiple area festivals promoting local food and drink and recently announced a line of specialty sauces to be produced and sold in the Hudson Valley. Kroner currently serves on the board of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week and The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, and has been nominated to the board of The Rhinebeck Farmer’s Market.

Other winners for 2014 include the Hudson Farmer’s Market and the Berkshire Co-op Market.

More information on the Victoria A. Simmons Locavore Fund can be found at http://www.columbiafair.com/victoria-simons-locavore-award.php.

More information on Chef Kroner’s Taste & Talk can be found at www.terrapinrestaurant.com/kids. The next Taste & Talk is scheduled for September 20, 2014.