The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 1978 with help from American cooking personality

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

History

The organization was formed in 1978, as ''Association of Cooking Schools'' (ACS), and incorporated in 1979. The name changed to ''International Association of Cooking Schools'' (IACS) in 1981. By 1987 the association had expanded its reach to include international members and renamed itself the “International Association of Cooking Professionals." In 1990, the association merged with the “Food Marketing Communicators” organization and again changed its name, to the “International Association of Culinary Professionals.” Since 1990, the association sponsored conferences in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, Providence,

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In 2011, Martha Holmberg, a cookbook author and food writer, was named chief executive officer. In 2018, Tanya Steel, a food journalist, healthy foods advocate, and creator of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge & Kids' State Dinner with former First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

, a five year-initiative at the White House, was named chief executive officer.

IACP Awards

The IACP Cookbook Awards are presented annually to honor excellence in cookbook writing and publishing. They were previously called "Tastemaker's" awards. These include awards named for

, for a writer's first cookbook, and a

Jane Grigson Award The Jane Grigson Award is an award issued by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). It honours distinguished scholarship and depth of research in cookbooks and is named in honour of the British cookery writer Jane Grigson. ...

for distinguished scholarship. Its awards are considered one of the top honors in culinary journalism. Winners are covered in publications such as the Los Angeles Times,

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

Food52, America's Test Kitchen, New York Magazine, Eater, and the Washington Post. The IACP also presents the Bert Greene Awards for food journalism, in magazine, internet, and newspaper categories. The IACP also gives out awards for food photography and digital media.

Notable recipients

Jeanne Voltz Jeanne Voltz (November 20, 1920 – January 15, 2002) was an American food journalist, editor, and cookbook author. She was food editor for the ''Miami Herald'' and the ''Los Angeles Times'', two of the most influential food sections in the count ...

References

External links

IACP official siteAwards presented by the organization
{{prof-assoc-stub Culinary professional associations 1978 establishments in the United States