South African-born Prue Leith's career in food began in the 1960s when she arrived in London and started a catering business. In 1969 she opened Leith's, which earned a Michelin star; in 1975 she opened Leith's School of Cookery; in 2004 she co-founded the Hoxton Apprentice – which trains deprived young adults to be chefs; and in 2007 she was appointed chair of the School Food Trust. In between times she has been a regular on TV, published a library of cookery books and been involved in numerous initiatives to improve the nation's diet and cooking skills. Now she is the winner of our Lifetime Achievement award.
Listeners to Radio 4's The Food Programme will be familiar with Sheila Dillon's Lancastrian tones from 20 years of reporting. Working with Derek Cooper, she was responsible for ground-breaking coverage of BSE, GM and food irradiation – which helped establish food as an important, newsworthy subject. She is the winner of our Outstanding Achievement award.
Prue Leith: We first met when I appeared on The Food Programme. I was trying to raise £40m for a national culinary centre.
Sheila Dillon: I've admired Prue for 20-odd years. She's achieved so much. I know Jamie Oliver would support me in saying that the changes the government put in place after his School Dinners programmes were only possible because of the work Prue had done.
PL: I'm ashamed to say there was a little bit of me that thought "I've been saying this for nearly 40 years, and never had anything more than a pat on the head." It took me 10 minutes before I could be grateful.
SD: We've made so many programmes, analysed what's wrong, but Jamie Oliver comes along and gets results. He's a marvel.
PL: The Food Programme has always been interesting and serious. Celebrity cooks have been good overall, but I'm not sure they have done much for cooking. There are only two cooks people follow on telly: Jamie because he makes it accessible, and Delia because she tells you every step.
SD: The food industry and supermarkets have seduced us with convenience food. Young mothers have lost the confidence to cook because they think they should be cooking the fancy gourmet food they see on TV.
