Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
Toni Tipton-Martin is an author, culinary journalist, and activist with a career dedicated to building a healthier community. Through her books, foundation, and role as editor-in-chief of Cook’s Country Magazine and television show, Tipton-Martin shares the stories of America’s favorite dishes. A founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Foodways Texas, Tipton Martin authored many important cookbooks celebrating Black culinary history, including James Beard Award nominee® Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: Cocktails From Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks and James Beard Award winners Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking and The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks.
In 2008, after 30 years in media and culinary education, Tipton-Martin founded the SANDE Youth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable families by combating childhood hunger, obesity, and disease through cultural heritage, cooking, and overall wellness. With a grant from the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, the organization was renamed the Toni Tipton-Martin Foundation and restructured its operations to further Tipton- Martin’s legacy of award-winning food and nutrition journalism.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual whose lifetime body of work has had a positive and long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and/or think about food in America.
Learn more at jamesbeard.org/awards
Toni Tipton-Martin is an author, culinary journalist, and activist with a career dedicated to building a healthier community. Through her books, foundation, and role as editor-in-chief of Cook’s Country Magazine and television show, Tipton-Martin shares the stories of America’s favorite dishes. A founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Foodways Texas, Tipton Martin authored many important cookbooks celebrating Black culinary history, including James Beard Award nominee® Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: Cocktails From Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks and James Beard Award winners Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking and The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks.
In 2008, after 30 years in media and culinary education, Tipton-Martin founded the SANDE Youth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable families by combating childhood hunger, obesity, and disease through cultural heritage, cooking, and overall wellness. With a grant from the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, the organization was renamed the Toni Tipton-Martin Foundation and restructured its operations to further Tipton- Martin’s legacy of award-winning food and nutrition journalism.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual whose lifetime body of work has had a positive and long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and/or think about food in America.
Learn more at jamesbeard.org/awards
