I’m so proud to announce that Hyphen’s Food and Agriculture Editor Nina Kahori Fallenbaum has been selected to be a Food and Community Fellow for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Nina is one of 14 grassroots advocates, thought leaders, writers and entrepreneurs in this year’s class of fellows, who are outstanding leaders in the food and agriculture community and are working to improve the food system on the local and international level.

Incredibly, this means that -- thanks to the IATP -- Hyphen has our first paid staffer! So in this period of upheaval for journalism, take heart: media and nonprofits are carving new collaborations, and great new things are happening.

Here is what Nina will be focused on for the next two years, in her own words:

My proposal for the fellowship was twofold: one part is to continue my work with Hyphen -- and do it better. Search out and write the stories of Asian Americans involved in the food system and trying to change it. Bring more policy debates related to food into the pages of my section (including more on the controversy surrounding legislation to ban shark fin). I want to make sure the AAPI voices are included in this whole foodorama of public interest right now.

The second part of the fellowship is about producing media and creating real tools for activism. I will be using my website and Facebook page to share information on the next Farm Bill with Asian American voters. The Farm Bill (here's a hint of how nutty it is, and how important) is the largest piece of legislation relating to food and agriculture, and it's renewed every 5 years. Not enough people understand it, and my website is where I'll try to chomp off tiny bits of it and share them with a larger audience.  It affects how all food is produced in America. Geez!

Since Nina launched Hyphen’s Food section a year ago, in spring of 2010, I have been nothing short of amazed by her intelligence, creativity, and enthusiasm for all things food related. The stories she has produced so far -- from restaurant labor rights to the history of tofu, and from how Asian American family farms are thriving to why Asian Americans aren’t cooking at home -- are, in my opinion, among the best we have printed in this magazine. And they’re just a few of the exciting ideas Nina is renowned for. Keep an eye out for many more in the future.

You can follow Nina’s awesome work at her website ninaeats.com and her Facebook page.

Congratulations to Nina! And big thanks to IATP, for our big win.