Toni Tipton-Martin is a food journalist and community organizer, as well as the author of The Jemima Code, which won the James Beard Award. Her collection of over 300 African American cookbooks has been on display at the James Beard House, and she has been invited twice to the White House to assist in First Lady Michelle Obama's initiatives to raise a healthier generation of children. The Southern Foodways Association and Foodways Texas both have Tipton-Martin as a founding member. She was honored with the Julia Child Award in 2021.