Food for Thought,Food for Writing

Scott Palmieri, Ph.D.

Johnson & Wales University

Why Food Writing?

• Focus: Food Writing course or thematic approach

• Unique approach to all elements of writing

• Descriptive Writing emphasis

• Topical Issues

• Growing Field (tens of thousands of food blogs)

Capturing a Moment

• Penny De Los Santos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzC0RYZmrQQ

mystorylives.blogspot.com

Food Memoir

Review Writing

• Criteria • Ethics• Ego’s speech in Ratatouille

http://youtu.be/-JPOoFkrh94

Research

• Food Inc.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0

http://morguefile.com/

http://morguefile.com/

Research

• Controversial topics

• Good Eats- demonstration/ process analysis

• Primary research: supermarket, local farms, farmer’s markets, restaurants, etc.

Blog Writing

http://pinchmysalt.com/

http://www.saveur.com/solrSearchResults.jsp?q=blog+awards

http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2009/1/23/the‐problem‐with‐phone‐orders html#comment18384160

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/

Other Writing Examples

• Profile of local business, farms, restaurant, etc.

• Recipe writing

• Cookbook Writing

Readership/Audience

• Gastronomica (specialized/academic) vs. The Providence Journal (general)

• Edible Rhody (regional) vs. Bon Appetit (national)

Publication Protocol

• http://www.gastronomica.org/contribute/

Ethics and Copyright

• Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious• http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/a‐closer‐look‐at‐the‐seinfeld‐food‐fight/

• Crediting sources, attribution

Resources

• Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob

• Best Food Writing series

• Print Magazines/ Newspapers

• Blogs

• Food Poetry: “Perhaps the World Ends Here,” Joy Harjo and “This is Just to Say” W.C. Williams

• Film and Food: Sideways, “The Life of Wine” scene, Ratatouille, “Ego’s Review”

This Is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox 

and which you were probably 

saving for breakfast 

Forgive me they were delicious 

so sweet and so cold.

Works CitedDe Los Santos, Penny. "TEDxAustin ‐ Penny De Los Santos.” 

TedTalks. YouTube. 17 Feb. 2012. Web.Hughes, Holly, ed. Best Food Writing 2011. Philadelphia: DaCapo, 

2010. PrintJacob, Dianne. Will Write for Food. 2nd Ed. 

Philadelphia: DaCapo, 2010. Print.Lee, Jennifer. “A Closer Look at the Seinfeld Food Fight.” 

NewYorkTimes.com. CityRoom. 8 Jan. 2008. Web.