Professional AwardsCall for NominationsView the 2026 Call for AFHVS Professional Awards here. The deadline for nominations is January 31st, 2026. For questions, contact professionalawards@afhvs.org. Past Award Winners
The Richard P. Haynes Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award in Agriculture, Food, and Human ValuesTo honor persons who in their careers have made outstanding contributions towards realizing the goals of the AFHVS through research, teaching, extension, public service or public policy. 2010 Richard Haynes, University of Florida 2011 Kate Clancy, Independent food systems consultant 2013 Paul Thompson, Michigan State University 2014 Laura DeLind, Michigan State University 2015 Carolyn Sachs, The Pennsylvania State University 2018 Gilbert Wayne "Gil" Gillespie, Jr., Cornell University 2019 Cornelia Flora, Iowa State University 2020 Douglas Constance, Sam Houston State University 2021 William B. Lacy, University of California-Davis 2022 Gail Feenstra, University of California-Davis 2024 Molly D. Anderson, Middlebury College Excellence in ScholarshipTo recognize AFHVS members who have made outstanding research contributions that are important to an aspect of agriculture, food, and human values. 2010 Leland Glenna, The Pennsylvania State University 2011 Clare Hinrichs, The Pennsylvania State University 2012 Patricia Allen, Marylhurst University 2015 Julie Guthman, University of California, Santa Cruz 2016 Rick Welsh, Syracuse University 2017 Lisa Heldke, Gustavus Adolphus College 2018 Daniel Jaffee, Portland State University 2019 Matthew Sanderson, Kansas State University 2022 Philip H. Howard, Michigan State University 2024 Theresa L. Selfa, SUNY-ESF 2025 Olivia Sylvester, University for Peace, Costa Rica Excellence in InstructionTo recognize AFHVS members for outstanding teaching related to agriculture, food, and human values at the graduate and/or undergraduate level. 2009 Harry West, Johan Pottier, and Jacob Klein - Food 2014 Gilbert G. Gillespie, Cornell University 2017 Amy Guptill, SUNY Brockport 2018 Robert T. Valgenti, Lebanon Valley College 2019 Valentine Cadieux, Hamline University 2021 Mary Hendrickson, University of Missouri 2022 Robert Magnes on Chiles, The Pennsylvania State University 2023 Kim Niewolny, Virginia Tech 2024 Nadine Lehrer, Chatham University 2025 David Conner, University of Vermont Excellence in Public ServiceTo honor AFHVS members and their collaborators who have made academic or non-academic contributions that have had significant public service impact on the advancement of agriculture, food, and human values through their work in universities, colleges, government, non-government organizations, or consultancies, or other forms of public service. 2012 Douglas Constance, Sam Houston State University 2014 Ardyth Harris Gillespie, Cornell University 2019 Neva Hassanein, University of Montana 2022 Siva Sureshwaran, USDA/NIFA 2024 Jennifer Gaddis, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2025 Helene Murray, University of Minnesota excellence in innovationTo honor AFHVS members who have made a compelling contribution to innovation and collaboration in the interdisciplinary field of agriculture, food, and human values through a recent publication or project or other landmark achievement. 2017 Marcia Ostrom, Washington State University 2021 Vanessa García Polanco, National Young Farmers 2022 Anna Erwin, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley the kenneth a. dahlberg Early-Career Excellence award2023 Katie Dentzman, Iowa State University 2024 Margiana Petersen-Rockney, University of Montana 2025 Lia Kelinsky-Jones, Virginia Tech University Andy Smolski, Pennsylvania State University special commendation2015 Michaela Oldfield, for Outstanding Service to the 2019 Harvey S. James, Jr., for 12 years as Editor-in-Chief of 2024 Matthew Sanderson, Outstanding Service as Editor-in-Chief of Agriculture and Human Values 2025 Rebecca Shenton, for Outstanding Service as Administrator of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society | Student AwardsCall for PapersView the 2026 Call for Student Paper Awards here. The deadline for submissions is February 6, 2026. For questions, contact SPA-chair@afhvs.org. Past Award Winners
Graduate and undergraduate Student Research Paper awardees2025Graduate Winning Paper: “From Labels to Land: The Risks and Realities of Pesticide Use,” Pritam Mitra, Auburn University (co-authored with Samir Huseynov and Ruiqing Miao) Undergraduate Winning Paper: “Performing La Huelga: The Role of Theatre and Food in the Delano Grape Strike,” Sarah Schechter, UCLA Undergraduate Honorable Mention: "Investigating the Extent to Which Nonprofit Farmer’s Markets Are Accessible to Low-Income Communities, Using Geographic and Demographic Data," Olivia Walker, Pace University 2024Graduate Winning Paper: "Pork. It's What's for Lunch: Food, Race and the Politics of Migration in Denmark," Samantha Brown, University of Oregon Graduate Honorable Mention: "Green Gold: Avocado Production and Conflict in Mexico," Juan Carlos Angulo, University of Maryland, College Park Undergraduate Winning Paper: "Gleaning for Sustainability: Understanding Farmers' Social, Environmental, and Economic Motivations for Charitable Food Donation," Samantha Schulteis, Yale University (written at Duke University) 20232022Graduate Winning Paper: "Food Justice And Farmers’ Networks: An Examination of Coalition Building Among Women Growers Across The Rural-Urban Divide," Michaela Hoffelmeyer, Penn State University Graduate Honorable Mention: “'To rescue for human society the native values of rural life': Race, space, and whiteness in the University of California, Berkeley’s Agricultural Complex," Rosalie Zdzienicka Fanshel, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; University of California, Berkeley 2021Graduate Winning Paper: "Hunger Strikes and Differential Consciousness: Impure Contestation, Hunger, and the Building of Symbolic Futures," Becca Chalit Hernandez, Colorado State University Undergraduate Winning Paper: "Imperfect Solutions: The Use of Agrarian Ideals in “Ugly Produce” Marketing," Natalie Milan, Stanford University 2020Graduate Winning Paper: "'I Like Carrots but the Carrots at this School Are Just ...': Influences on students’ produce consumption in the National School Lunch Program,” Amy Rosenthal, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University Undergraduate Winning Paper: "Growing British India: The Colonial Biopolitics of the Potato," Julia Fine, Harvard University 2019
Graduate Winning Paper: "Landed Value Grabbing in the Terroir of Post-socialist Specialty Wine," A. June Brawner, Department of Anthropology, The University of Georgia
2018
Graduate Winning Paper: "Making Agricultural Entrepreneurs out of Campesinos: How Water Policy Reform Is Reshaping Agricultural Systems under Climate Change in Piura, Peru," Megan Mills-Novoa, School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona
2017
Graduate Winning Paper: “A Differentiated Notion of Justice in a Pay-What-You-Can Café,” Kelly Shreeve, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University
Graduate Honorable Mention: "Queer Farmland: Smallholder Strategies for Finding Land, Home, and Knowledge,” Isaac Sohn Leslie, Department of Community & Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison Undergraduate Winning Paper: "Fighting Racism at its Root: An Examination of San Diego’s Community Gardens,” Jane Henderson, Ethnic Studies and Spanish, University of San Diego 2016Graduate Winning Paper: "Troubling Tradition, Community, and Self-Reliance: Reframing Expectations for Village Seed Banks," Emily Reisman, University of California-Santa Barbara Undergraduate Winning Paper: "The Origin and Lifespan of Food Assistance Programs during the Great Depression," Vincent Gottfried Wisehoon, Syracuse University 2015Graduate Winning Paper: "Cultivating Citizenship, Equity, and Social Inclusion? Putting Civic Agriculture into Practice through Urban Farming," Melissa Poulsen, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2014Graduate Winning Paper: "The Great American Garden: Farming Myth and Sustainability on the Western Prairie," Joel Scherer, Colorado State University Undergraduate Winning Paper: "The Politics of Transgenic Food: An Ethnographically-Informed Analysis of the Ban on Genetically Modified Crops in Bolivia," Kristin Gjelsteen, University of Puget Sound 2013Graduate Winning paper: "Labor of Love: Viability Strategies in Sustainable Farming," Analena Bruce Graduate Honorable Mention: "Incorporating the Philosophy of Technology into Animal Welfare Assessment," Courtney Lynd Daigle, Michigan State University Undergraduate Winning Paper: "Wendell Berry’s Object-Oriented Agroecology and the New Millennium, " Charlie Jackson, New Mexico State University 2012Graduate Winning paper: "Problems with the Defetishization Thesis: The Case of a Farmer’s Market," Ryan Gunderson, Michigan State University Published as: Ryan Gunderson, "Problems with the defetishization thesis: ethical consumerism, alternative food systems, and commodity fetishism," Agriculture and Human Values, 31(1), 2014. Graduate Honorable Mention: "How Local is Local? Determining the Boundaries of Local Food in Practice," Shawn Trivette, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Undergraduate Winning Paper: "Building a Real Food System: The Challenges and Successes on the College Campus," Sarah Arndt 2011Graduate Winning paper: "The Rise of Local Organic Food Systems in the US: An Analysis of Farmers’ Markets." Jared Oleson, University of California Irvine Graduate Honorable mention: "Pushing the Boundaries of Indigeneity and Agricultural Knowledge: Immigrant Community Gardening in California," Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, UC Berkeley, Department of Geography 2010Graduate Winning Paper: "Growing Local Food: Scale and Local Food Systems Governance,” Phil Mount, Department of Geography, University of Guelph 2009Graduate Winning Paper: “Keeping the Wineglass Full: Sustainable Viticulture and Its Role in Sustaining Agricultural Livelihoods in Lodi, California,” Matthew Hoffman, Iowa State University, Department of Sociology and Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Winning Paper: "In Search of the New "Fair Trade" Paradigm: An Alternative to the Market-Driven Relationship," Ezequiel Zylberberg, University of Florida, Department of Religion. 2008Betty Izumi, Michigan State University, School of Public Health Published as: Lehrer, Nadine. (2010) (Bio)fueling farm policy: The biofuels boom and the 2008 farm bill. Agriculture and Human Values, 27(4):427-444. |