Writers for the Chronicle, East Bay Express and SF Weekly all received first-place awards from the Association of Food Journalists for her story on the challenges of following the federal dietary guidelines. Bay Area winners include:

• Michael Bauer of the Chron took second place in Restaurant Criticism;
• The Chron’s Carol Ness won a first place award in the category Food News Reporting;
• The East Bay Express’s Jonathan Kauffman won a first place for restaurant criticism;
• Ron Russell of the SF Weekly won a first place for Food News Reporting.
• Chron Staff photographer Craig Lee took third place in both studio food photography and nonstudio food photography;
• Chron Food Editor Miriam Morgan won second place in the Special Section category for an issue devoted to 100 summer food ideas;
• Critic Bill Addison, a new addition to the Chronicle staff, took second place for his restaurant critiques published in Atlanta’s Creative Loafing newsweekly;
• Julie Kaufmann of the Mercury News won a third-place award for Best Newspaper Food Section;
• Carolyn Jung of the Merc received a third-place award for Food News Reporting;
• Aleta Watson of the Merc took second place for restaurant criticism, and
Tom Sietsema, formerly of the Chron, took first place in Restaurant Criticism for The Washington Post.