The Indiana Broadcasters Association announces the 2009 1st Place Spectrum Award Winners
The Spectrum Awards recognizes broadcast excellence for outstanding achievement in broadcasting by Indiana radio and television stations. The competition is established to encourage the highest standards of reporting, community service and production creativity. It brings the ultimate prize of peer recognition to members of the broadcast industry of Indiana.
On Saturday, November 14, 2009, the Indiana Broadcasters Association awarded 61 first place Spectrum Awards and the "Service to Indiana Award," at the 22nd Spectrum Annual Awards Show at the Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis. WNIT Public Television's documentary, Farm Fresh To You was awarded 1st place in the Special Interest and Cultural Programming category.
Farm Fresh To You was produced by WNIT's Vice President of Production, Angel Hernandez, who said, "We are honored to be awarded the Indiana Broadcasters Association Spectrum Award. The staff at WNIT is very proud and humbled to be considered among the best in the state. It is a pleasure to be able to showcase our community's valued treasures in such a way that is also acknowledged by our peers as 'excellent.' "
Farm Fresh To You
WNIT Public Television is proud to present its newest documentary, Farm Fresh to You, which explores the Michiana region with specialty food retailer, restaurateur, caterer and passionate food lover Judy Kite Gosh. She has helped promote and encourage local sustainable food products since forsaking the glamour of big city life in Chicago 15 years ago to proudly wear the chef's toque and checkered pants.
Along the journey, Judy introduces us to many of the area's top chefs, farmers, ranchers and wine makers. Some of our chefs are world renowned for the quality of their cuisine, including Jean Joho of Everest Restaurant in Chicago and Rick Bayless, host of PBS' "Mexico, One Plate at a Time." They will demonstrate the advantages of eating locally grown and locally prepared foods.
The World's Non-Citrus Fruit Basket
The area we proudly call Michiana is one of the most productive food producers in the nation. In fact, a very impressive scientific soil study done recently concluded that the three counties bordering Lake Michigan contain some of the most fertile productive soil in the world. Combine that with the lake effect on the climate, and it becomes a powerful influence on our area's ability to grow just about anything. Southwest Michigan leads the world in non-citrus fruit production. 70% of the crop diversity represented in the entire country grows in Berrien County, Michigan. This small region is second only to the state of California in providing fresh produce, meats and wines to the rest of the world.
Many people don't realize that southwestern Michigan lies on roughly the 45th parallel. This puts it at approximately the same latitude as the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions of France, the Piedmont region of northern Italy and the Rhine region of southern Germany--all noted wine-making regions. It is also the same approximate latitude as the Columbia and Willamette valleys in Washington, where some very good domestic wines are produced. That said, it's clear why Michiana wines are starting to be recognized worldwide for their quality and distinguished taste.
Get Local
Watch the trailer of a new series from the producers of Farm Fresh To You.
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