PRESS RELEASE To the American Cheese Expert and Maître Fromager Max McCalman This outstanding personality was selected by the international jury of the French Food Spirit Awards for his contribution to international understanding of French food culture. Mr. McCalman will be honored by the FFSA in NYC on Thursday, January 27, 2011.
The 2010’s French Food Spirit Awards for Entrepreneurship is Awarded
New York City, January 25, 2011
The French Food Spirit Awards (FFSA), unique in France and abroad, honors the achievements of people from other countries who have performed exceptional activities that exemplify the French Food Spirit as defined in its charter: a sense of freedom, of nature, of responsibility, of enterprise, of science, and of global duty.
These awards were created by the Association of the Friends of the French Food Spirit. It is chaired by Mr Jean-René Buisson, president of the French Federation of Food and Drink Industries (ANIA), and its vice-president is Ms Cecile Bassot, managing director of Sopexa.
Since its first edition in 2003, the awards were attributed to 29 personalities from 16 different countries.
The four 2010 recipients were selected out of 175 from over 40 countries of all continents, in the fields of artistic creation, scientific and academic work, and innovation in business, all of which contribute to the understanding of French food culture and the values on which Food Spirit is founded: pleasure and conviviality, overall well-being and physical health, quality, safety, and accessibility.
Max McCalman has been designated as a Garde et Jure of the Guilde des Fromagers of St. Uguzon. He is an advocate for artisanal cheese production and a frequent guest lecturer and instructor. He also is a frequent judge in cheese competitions in the U.S. and in Europe. Max is the author of three books on cheese: “The Cheese Plate,” “Cheese, a Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best” (which won a James Beard Award), and, most recently, “Mastering Cheese, Lessons for Connoisseurship from a Maître Fromager." Max created the legendary cheese program at
The jury 2010 is composed of 12 prominent members, all voluntary, independent and drawn from all fields of endeavor: Gerard d'Aboville, navigator and member of the City of Paris Council, Jim Bittermann, American journalist, senior correspondent for CNN, the conductor William Christie, François-Xavier Demaison, French actor, Claude Fischler, sociologist, Jean-Pierre de Launoit, president of the Fondation L’Alliance Francaise, Astrid Lulling, from Luxembourg European Parliament quaestor, the Japanese essayist and journalist, Keiko Minamitani, Sonia Poussin, photographer-director author of Africa Trek, Stanley Prusiner, American virologist and Nobel Prize in medicine, the French chemist, Hervé This and Bertrand du Vignaud, President of the World Monuments Fund Europe.
The three other recipients for 2010 are the Italian microbiologist Paola Bonfante (Science), Meryl Streep (Culture) and Ariane Daguin (Jury Special Award).
The French Food Spirit Award for Entrepreneurship is supported by Daum and CNIEL.
For more information, contact: Jean-Pierre d’Estienne d’Orves Secretary General of the FFSA 122 rue de Rennes 75006 Paris Ph : 00 33 6 27 17 85 58 jeanpierredestiennedorves@orange.fr