Hard work and commitment should not go unrewarded

This Thursday, in the Emiliano Allende Auditorium in Medina del Campo, Valladolid, one of the most eagerly awaited awards ceremonies will take place for the first time in the history of work that has carried on for centuries unrecognised, because Spain will finally celebrate the National Potato Awards.

According to the organisers, CAMPO Magazine, the ceremony seeks to praise the value of the crop and the entire sector that revolves around it. The winners are true ‘champions’ of a production that is a hallmark and that has been breathing life into rural areas for centuries.

Amongst the notable winners, although those we don’t mention do not deserve any less recognition, they are all stars in our eyes, the National Potato Award goes to Nicolás Serna. The extensive professional and life career dedicated to potatoes has convinced the jury to award the main prize of the gala to Nicolás Serna (Montorio, Burgos). “When I was nine years old I started planting potatoes,” so at 77 he has already been dedicating himself to potatoes for almost seven decades. A whole life.

And he has no plans to abandon. “The day it stops, the bells will answer. It’s like I’m missing something,” he confesses with a laugh.

This farmer’s passion for the countryside remains intact, and he has passed it on to his children Isidro, Sara and Nicolás, who accompany him in the El Carmen cooperative, one of the main producers in the country, which he runs together with Balbina, his wife. And according to Nicolás, his wife is the great architect of this recognition, since she has worked with the same determination as him in the field, and with the added effort of having to take care of the family.

The Potato Producer of the Year Award goes to Maria del Mar Galindo, from San Javier, Murcia, who has potatoes in her blood (not literally, obviously). Granddaughter and daughter of farmers, this 31-year-old studied Agricultural Engineering with a clear objective: to dedicate herself to the countryside, “because for me it is not a job, it is my life,” she comments with emotion. After finishing her degree she began to work, along with her brother and her father, at Agrícola Galindo, a company founded by her grandfather.

The company focuses on organic production and zero waste of fruits and vegetables in Cartagena. “Potato is a crop that we didn’t know about, but when my brother and I entered we saw that it was a very interesting and affordable project, and here we are,” she says.

Other awards go to those dedicated to cooking, advertising, growing, and a special award for a young potato afficionado, and others, all of whom should be proud of the dedication and work they submit to the humble potato.

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