CARNI-CON AWARDS
2026
Honoring the Voices, Stories & Contributions Moving the Carnivore Movement Forward
Sunday, September 20, 2026 - 5:20 PM EDT
Featuring the Carni-Con Awards Host, Dave Mac
The Carni-Con Awards celebrate remarkable people, powerful stories and meaningful contributions throughout
the carnivore community. Some honors are selected by Carni-Con participants, while others recognize
individuals whose work, leadership and impact deserve a special spotlight.
Participant-Select Awards
Chosen by the Carni-Con Community.
Spirit of Carni-Con
Award
Recognizes a participant who brings outstanding energy, positivity, encouragement, community spirit to the Carni-Con experience.
Lisa Pickart
Why She Was Chosen
Lisa began each event day with helping participants get moving and she kept the great energy going throughout the entire event. You could find her in the coaches lounge, cheering on other presenters, and stepping in wherever a need arose.
Most Encouraging Voice Award
Recognizes someone known for steady encouragement, kindness, hope, and helpfulness within the carnivore community.
Dr. Jocelyn Foran
Why She Was Chosen
Dr. Jocelyn Foran consistently brings hope to conversations about health. She makes complex ideas understandable, reminds people that change is possible and educates while encouraging people to ask questions, learn, and take an active role in their own health.
People's Choice Creator Award
Recognizes a creator, educator, or public voice that participants feel has been especially helpful, engaging, or impactful.
Charlene Andersen
Why She Was Chosen
Charlene was chosen because of the authenticity of her voice. Her willingness to speak openly about both the challenges and the victories of her journey has connected deeply with people and made her a trusted, relatable voice in the community.
Spotlight Awards
Recognizing remarkable contributions, achievements and voices within the carnivore community.
Real-Life Carnivore
Award
Recognizes someone who helps make carnivore practical, approachable, and doable in everyday life.
Laura Spath
Why She Was Chosen
Laura has become one of the most relatable practical voices in the carnivore space. Through recipes, meal ideas, food prep, and simple advice, she helps make carnivore feel manageable in everyday life.
Rising Voice
Award
Recognizes an emerging voice making a meaningful contribution to the carnivore space through fresh perspective, courage, and clarity.
Edward Goeke
Why He Was Chosen
Edward combines personal experience with a deep interest in research, nutrition, chronic illness, and critical thinking. He is willing to question assumptions, dig into the evidence, and speak openly about what he finds.
Courageous Conversations Award
Recognizes someone willing to address difficult or uncomfortable topics with clarity, conviction, and grace.
Judy Cho
Why She Was Chosen
Judy has tackled chronic illness, food sensitivity, mental health, trauma, misinformation, and many of the complexities that don't fit neatly into a sound bite. Through her work, she has never been afraid to go beyond the easy.
Community
Builder Award
Recognizes someone who creates belonging, connection, support, and momentum within the carnivore community.
Bella Ma
Why She Was Chosen
Bella's energy and enthusiasm has helped bring people together and make carnivore feel more social, welcoming, and fun. The Steak and Butter Gang community helps people keep on the carnivore path.
Impact Through
Media Award
Recognizes someone who uses media to document, elevate, and share the stories, ideas, and human impact of the carnivore movement.
Kerry Mann
Why He Was Chosen
Kerry has put real people and real stories at the center of the carnivore conversation through HomesteadHow and the Healing Humanity documentary project. His work has helped show the people, families, struggles, and successes behind this movement.
Champion of
Carni-Con
Melissa Petersen
Why He Was Chosen
Melissa has gone above and beyond to care for the online presence of all of the Carni-Con presenters and exhibitors. She selflessly ensured that as many people as possible knew about Carni-Con with her social media posts and her podcast. She also kept the flames high and the fire going strong in the Campfire Community.
Signature Awards
Carni-Con's highest honors, recognizing exceptional leadership, influence, service and lasting impact.
Metabolic Health Impact
Award
Recognizes someone whose work has helped advance the conversation around nutrition, metabolism, health, and human flourishing through a carnivore, keto, or animal-based lens.
Dr. Robert Kiltz
Why He Was Chosen
Dr. Kiltz has had a major impact across fertility, metabolic health, and keto-carnivore nutrition.
As the founder of CNY Fertility, he’s also brought the carnivore conversation into an area where many people might not expect it — reproductive health.
His work has encouraged people to look beyond weight loss and think differently about the connection between food and health.
Clinical Courage
Award
Recognizes a doctor, clinician, researcher, or practitioner willing to challenge conventional thinking with integrity in pursuit of better health outcomes.
Professor Tim Noakes
Why He Was Chosen
Professor Noakes has spent years challenging conventional nutrition advice and advocating for low-carbohydrate nutrition and metabolic health.
In doing so, he faced years of public scrutiny, professional pressure, and formal proceedings — but he continued to stand behind his work.
Through his research, writing, The Noakes Foundation, and Nutrition Network, he’s helped people around the world question long-held assumptions about nutrition.
Lifetime Contribution
Award
Recognizes long-term work that has helped build, strengthen, or legitimize the carnivore space over time.
Dr. Shawn Baker
Why He Was Chosen
Dr. Baker has been one of the most recognizable advocates for carnivore and has played a major role in bringing it into the public conversation.
As an orthopedic surgeon, athlete, author of The Carnivore Diet, and co founder of Revero, his work has introduced countless people to this way of eating.
For many people, their first encounter with carnivore came through Dr. Baker.
Beginner’s Champion
Award
Recognizes a doctor, clinician, researcher, or practitioner willing to challenge conventional thinking with integrity in pursuit of better health outcomes.
Dr. Ken Berry
Why He Was Chosen
Dr. Berry has a gift for making low-carb and carnivore easy to understand.
Through his videos, books, and his message around the Proper Human Diet, he’s helped countless people understand what to eat, what to stop fearing, and most importantly, how to get started.
Because of Dr. Berry's work, countless people have discovered the carnivore lifestyle and realized it is something they can try.
Excellence in Carnivore Education Award
Recognizes someone who explains carnivore clearly,
consistently, responsibly, and accessibly while helping people understand the deeper “why” behind the message.
Dr. Anthony Chaffee
Why He Was Chosen
Dr. Chaffee has become one of the leading educational voices in the carnivore space.
Through The Plant Free MD podcast, lectures, interviews, and long-form discussions, he’s helped people understand not just what carnivore is, but the reasoning and science behind it.
He’s also always willing to explain, debate, and answer the difficult questions.
Outstanding Service
Award
Recognizes someone who contributes consistently, generously, and meaningfully to the carnivore space, including work that strengthens the community behind the scenes.
Scott Everson
Why He Was Chosen
Scott has played an important role in bringing the carnivore community together in the real world.
As an entrepreneur, event producer, and creator of Meatstock, he’s created opportunities for people to meet, connect, and build relationships beyond social media.
He’s also brought his own health journey and business experience into projects like SALTR.
Special Recognition Award
VOICES OF THE MOVEMENT
Dave Mac
Why He Was Chosen
Dave Mac receives the Voices of the Movement Award for creating an extraordinary living record of the carnivore community.
Through No Carb Life and more than 2,030 interviews, Dave has given thousands of people the opportunity to tell their stories—their struggles, discoveries, setbacks, and successes—in their own voices.
By consistently turning the microphone toward everyday people, he has preserved and amplified a body of lived experience that might otherwise never have been heard. Few people have done more to document the voices behind this movement.
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