Last chance to vote in the 2022 Eat Game Awards

There are many great shooting industry awards, from those that aim to give recognition of products or services, celebrate photographic achievements, role model individuals, right the way through to our four-legged friends. They all do their bit in giving kudos to those that many feel deserve it and certainly help maintain a good community feel, especially when voting involves the public.

However, despite the good messages they convey and the effort injected by those who run them, for obvious reasons we seldom see results from awards infiltrating mainstream media and catching the attention of those outside the proverbial walls of the sporting sector. And when they do, they can often be over shadowed almost instantaneously by some antis’ clouded, misinformed opinions that pull on the heartstrings of their social media empire in the tapping of a few keys and the posting of an emotive image.

It's hard to argue when you've got a mouthful of burger

When it comes to topics that aren’t instantly rejected by the non-shooting fraternity to justify what we do, there really are very few. Without question our strongest means of forming a bridge to those individuals who sit on the fence between pro or against our wonderful way of life is, ultimately, food.

Everyone needs it. All bar a very few like it. Broadcasters happily show it. People like to talk about it... take photos of it... recommend places to consume it. And, most importantly, our industry provides the very best of it.

In the last few years there has definitely been a welcomed improvement in the numbers of people and organisations helping to promote game meat and perceptions of it. But we can always do more. Whether that be by means of recommending another new recipe, hosting another dinner, encouraging more neighbours to go out and buy it, or for the social media-savvy posting additional pics of game dishes prepared at home or enjoyed in a restaurant onto your social media feed.

That all takes time and the right opportunities, whereas an instant, easy win in the meantime is to show our support for those who have already done more than their fair share by taking a few minutes to vote in this year’s Eat Game Awards, designed to support healthy, ethical and sustainable game meat, the eateries that serve it, the chefs that innovate with it and the suppliers of it.

The Eat Game Awards

“In 2018, the awards were set up to really showcase the game meat industry, reward those who deserve recognition for doing great things with wild food, and inspire others to do the same,” admits Annette Woolcock, Head of Wild Food for BASC & Judge of the Eat Game Awards. “Whether that’s because they always put game onto the menu when in season, innovate products or offer outstanding services.

“Since inception we have been very grateful to have seen results from the awards printed in mainstream publications – such as The Telegraph – which has helped to grow a place or person’s local and national profile, along with better knowledge, understanding and perceptions of the game meat sector as a whole.”

So far awards have been claimed by some truly fantastic game food luminaries, such as Mike Robinson and Tom Kitchin, and businesses like The Wild Meat Company, The Pheasant in Newbury, The Caddy Mann in Jedburgh to name but a few. “The last time we held the awards, Mike was announced as Champion of Champions for his hard work and endearing passion for game through Owl Barn Larder, The Harwood Arms, The Woodsman and more. To our amazement he had never won anything of this scale and was absolutely thrilled.”

Mike Robinson, last year's Champion of Champions, sits on this year's judging panel

This year, the awards are split into eight categories:

• Best Restaurant or Pub
• Best Game Cook
• Best Small Retailer
• Best Multiple Retailer
• Best Game Butcher
• Best Added Value Product or Innovation
• Best Media Story/Noise/Influencer
• Best Game Educator

New award categories for 2022

“The latter two are new for 2022 and we are very excited about them,” Anette adds. The Game Educator category is aimed at any person, organisation or company educating the general public about game meat, so there are nominees for groups such as Vale House Kitchen, The Chef’s Forum, Bisterne Estate Deer Management Team to individuals like James Golding and José Souto.

Whereas the Best Media Story/Noise/Influencer award (sponsored by GunsOnPegs) pertains to the best news story of the year, article, publicity or game meat influencer – so nominees include Ben Rigby Game, Billy Wyatt, Scott Rea, Louisa Clutterbuck and more. “Not only have they welcomed a new selection of nominees, but the audiences that have come with them are quite different too, which is very positive. Continuing to be very popular and competitive is the Best Restaurant and Pub category.”

Eat Game Awards Gala Dinner

Once public votes have been calculated, the top three of each category will then be judged by the awards panel – made up of James Horne, Adam Henson, Mike Robinson, Tim Maddams, Dylan Williams, Al Gabriel, Chris Barker and Annette – to select the final winners, making it totally fair. Once the final judging has taken place, the ceremony is presented at a gala dinner at The Nave in Paddington, London, hosted by BBC Countryfile’s Adam Henson. Tickets are still available at £125 per person or £1,000 for a tables of eight.

There is also a £1,000 prize awarded to each category winner to help their progress. Without listing the nominees - who all rightfully deserve a mention – you can find them all online with a link to their 'about' pages. The deadline for votes is 21 February, so get voting for who you think most deserves it.

As a last word, it must be recognised that the Eat Game team themselves are also doing a fabulous job of representing the sector at shows like BBC Good Food and growing positive perceptions of game themselves. Plus, their commitment to experimenting, developing and refining game recipes in conjunction with some of the UK’s finest chefs is commendable.

So, whether you fancy trying your hand at pine-scented grouse, harissa-spiced partridge, rabbit burgers or fallow osso buco, there’s an Eat Game recipe that’ll have your critics nominating you for an award.