The rush to go green is on for big industry (well, a lot of them). The food industry is no different. Brill is being awarded the 2007 Energy Saver Award by the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program. The company has saved more than 2.2 million kilowatt hours by upgrading a couple systems at their Tucker, GA plant. The upgrades resulted in about a 50% reduction in energy consumption for that plant.

For those readers who don't follow industrial food manufacturers, Brill one of the largest bakery suppliers in the U.S. I personally am not a big fan, preferring instead to either make my own frosting or get a cake from a high-end bakery that wold not use Brill. There are, however, many people who do enjoy Brill products, or at least the bakeries which use those products. Now the bakeries that use Brill products can be proud to support such an eco-friendly manufacturer.

You can read more about it here. The best part is that the actual award, presented at a 2008 industry even, is made from 100% recycled glass!

[via Modern Baking]

Nominations are now closed and the official judges have used some as-yet undefined criteria to cull through the nominated blogs and choose five for each category. The process is actually a bit akin to the academy awards, where the most popular blogs sometimes - but not always - make the final cut, and others that are less well known end up on the ballot. That being said, the process is what it is and all of the blogs that are up for the awards really do deserve to be there, as do all of the nominated blogs, though they haven't all been officially recognized.

So if you want to see if your own favorite blog made the cut, or just check out some new ones, head on over to WellFed and peruse all of the categories vote for your top choice in each. I'm not going to attempt to influence you opinion in any category but one because Slashfood is nominated for the best group blog category. Now, there's no pressure to vote for us, but if you have nothing better to do for the next 5 seconds or so, feel free to cast a vote.

At the annual World Cheese Awards, which were held this month in London, California cheesemakers proved that the California Milk Advisory Board's slogan "California: it's the cheese" is true. The state took home 13 awards, including 3 gold medals, 3 silver and 7 bronze - more than any other state in the country. Among the winners were:

• Marin French Cheese Company, Petaluma, for Petit Dejeuner (Gold), Wild Blackberry Quark (Gold), Garlic Brie (Bronze), Pesto Brie (Bronze) and Petit Creme (Bronze)
• Fiscalini Cheese Company, Modesto, for San Joaquin Gold (Silver) and Bandage Wrapped Premium Cheddar (Bronze)
• Mozzarella Fresca, Benicia, for Fresh Mozzarella -- Acid Set (Gold) and Fresh Mozzarella -- Cryovac (Bronze)
• Bravo Farms, Visalia, for Western Sage Cheddar (Silver)
• Cantare Foods, San Diego, for Whole Milk Mozzarella Boconcini (Silver)
• Bellwether Farms, Petaluma, for Carmody Semi Hard Cows' Milk Unpressed (Bronze)
• Winchester Cheese Company, Winchester, for Sharp Gouda (Bronze).

Over the past three years, California has won a total of 24 awards at the WCAs, and the increase this year means that California cheeses, like California wines, are gaining international recognition.