Food journalism

Food journalism is a field of journalism that focuses on news and current events related to food, its production and culture of producing and consuming that food. Typically food journalism includes a scope broader than the work of food critics who analyze restaurants and food products, and is similar to, and sometimes treated as a sub-genre of food writing, which documents the experience and history of food.^[1]

Food journalism often explores the impact of current events on food, such as how the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry, or larger issues, such as impacts of climate change on food production.^[2] Increasingly these themes overlap with public health journalism, political journalism and economic journalism.^[3] This expands on themes traditional to food criticism which has tended to focus on fine dining, and other kinds of food writing such as cookbook writing.^[4] These themes are similar to the themes covered in agricultural journalism, which focuses on the agriculture industry for agricultural audiences.

The contemporary field of food journalism grew in the mid-20th century, especially as issues like food rationing during and after World War II.^[5] In the United States, the Association of Food Journalists provides professional standards and a code of ethics.^[6]

References

1. "From Source to Table: How Journalists Are Investigating Food Stories Worldwide". gijn.org. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
2. "From Source to Table: How Journalists Are Investigating Food Stories Worldwide". gijn.org. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
3. "From Source to Table: How Journalists Are Investigating Food Stories Worldwide". gijn.org. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
4. "The future of food journalism: The world on a plate". BCFN Foundation: Food and Nutrition Sustainability Index. 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
5. Voss, Kimberly Wilmot (2020-07-02). "A Food Journalism Pioneer: The Story behind the First New York Times Food Writer Jane Nickerson and Her Food Section, 1942-1957". Journalism History. 46 (3): 248–264. doi:10.1080/00947679.2020.1757568. ISSN 0094-7679.
6. Journalists, Association of Food (2021-09-08). "Association of Food Journalists' Code of Ethics". Poynter. Retrieved 2024-04-10.