We're stepping away from our normal one-on-one author interviews this month to hold space for deeper conversations around equity and representation in food media and the cookbook industry. Stay tuned as we talk with cookbook authors, food writers, editors, podcast hosts, and the generation of young cooks and food writers.
In the second episode of our Food Media Awakening series, we're taking a closer look at the cookbook industry. What issues around representation exist in cookbook publishing? How have authors and others working in the field navigated these challenges? What needs to change – and what would a more equitable cookbook industry look like?
We called up several guests to discuss these topics: cookbook author and photographer Kristina Gill (co-author of Tasting Rome), literary agents Rica Allannic and Sally Ekus, cookbook editor Cristina Garces of Chronicle Books, and food writers Osayi Endolyn and Illyanna Maisonet.
Additional Reading and Resources:
How Food Media Fails BIPOC, by Leah Bhabha [Grub Street]
A (food media) resignation letter, by Osayi Endolyn [Twitter]
Between Friends: Your Stories About Race and Friendship, Podcast [NPR Code Switch / Death, Sex & Money]
To Change Racial Disparity in Food, Let’s Start With Cookbooks, by Julia Turshen [Eater]
Building a more equitable cookbook industry won't be easy, but change is overdue