Food journalism is a field of
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
that focuses on news and current events related to
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
,
its production and culture of producing and consuming that food. Typically food journalism includes a scope broader than the work of
food critic
The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...
s 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.
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
The COVID-19 pandemic affects the global food industry as governments close down restaurants and bars to slow the spread of the virus. Across the world, restaurants' daily traffic dropped precipitously compared to the same period in 2019. Closure ...
, or larger issues, such as
impacts of climate change on food production. Increasingly these themes overlap with
public health journalism,
political journalism and economic journalism. This expands on themes traditional to food criticism which has tended to focus on
fine dining
Fine may refer to:
Characters
* Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny''
* Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano
Legal terms
* Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
, and other kinds of food writing such as
cookbook
A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes.
Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food.
Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...
writing. 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. In the United States, the
Association of Food Journalists
The Association of Food Journalists (AFJ) was a US-based professional organization that operated from the early 1970s through 2020. It was created to promote high standards for journalists reporting and writing on food, the food industry, restaura ...
provides professional standards and a code of ethics.
References
{{Journalism-stub
Food-related literary genres
Types of journalism