The food writers

The food writers

From The Food Chain by BBC World Service

April 29, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

Ruth Alexander explores how food writers and editors enter the industry and the significance of their work.

Ever wondered how anyone gets a job writing about food? Ruth Alexander talks to Melissa Clark, recipe columnist and newsletter host for the New York Times; Laura Rowe food journalist and former content director of Olive and Delicious magazines in London, and Malin Turunen of MatMalin in Stockholm, formerly editor of Swedish food magazine, Allt om Mat. They discuss their first jobs, how their work shapes our tastes and why they think columns about cake matter more than you might think. If you would like to get in touch with The Food Chain team, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Producers: Izzy Greenfield and Lexy O'Connor Sound engineer: Hal Haines (Photo: Woman writes in a notebook next to an open laptop and vegetables on a kitchen counter top. Credit: Getty Images)

People in this episode

Host: Ruth Alexander

Topics covered

  • food writing
  • journalism
  • taste
  • food culture
  • cake columns

Keywords

  • food writers
  • food journalism
  • cake columns
  • writing about food
  • food industry

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