James Beard Foundation's Fifth Annual Blended Burger Project™ Has Chefs Serving Up Summer-Long Burger Competition

Voting Opens for Favorite Mushroom + Meat Blended Burgers

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May 28, 2019, 07:06 ET

NEW YORK, May 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Is it possible for your favorite restaurant to make your favorite burger even tastier? The James Beard Foundation thinks so and, starting today, it is challenging restaurants nationwide to do just that by blending meat* and mushrooms in the fifth annual Blended Burger Project™.

Now through July 31, customers can visit participating restaurants nationwide to try a blended burger and vote for their favorites online.

"By blending freshly chopped mushrooms with protein, restaurants are able to take the iconic burger and add a tremendous boost of flavor and even juiciness," said Katherine Miller, VP of Impact, James Beard Foundation. "We are excited to once again devote the summer to encouraging restaurants to serve and patrons to sample a fresh way to not only make burgers more delicious, but also more nutritious and sustainable."

Since the Blended Burger Project launched four summers ago, more than 1,200 restaurants have taken part in the competition by blending mushrooms with meat using a 25%/75% ratio. Individuals have collectively voted more than 3 million times for their favorite entries.

To take part, burger fans can:

Visit a participating restaurant: https://www.jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject/participants
Vote for their favorite burger at: https://www.jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject/vote

Once votes are collected, a panel of judges will review the top 25 vote recipients, selecting five who will each receive $5,000 and have the opportunity to serve their winning burger at a Blended Burger Project celebration this October at the James Beard House in New York City.

Learn more at https://www.jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject.

*Or other protein.

About the James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation's mission is to promote good food for good™. For more than 30 years, the James Beard Foundation has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives. Through the James Beard Awards, unique dining experiences at the James Beard House and around the country, scholarships, hands-on learning, and a variety of industry programs that educate and empower leaders in our community, the Foundation has built a platform for chefs and asserted the power of gastronomy to drive behavior, culture, and policy change around food. To that end, the Foundation has also created signature impact-oriented initiatives that include our Women's Leadership Programs, aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in the culinary industry; advocacy training through our Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change; and the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards, which shine a spotlight on successful change makers. The organization is committed to giving chefs and their colleagues a voice and the tools they need to make the world more sustainable, equitable, and delicious for everyone. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org and follow @beardfoundation on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

SOURCE James Beard Foundation