Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob

I’ve met many students who want to write about food and I  try my utmost to be encouraging. It’s always been difficult to earn a decent living as a writer but I can’t remember a time when it has been more challenging.

Even so, there are doors that are open a crack and with a little ingenuity and masses of determination it is possible to push them wide open.

It is important to know, what exactly, a food writer does. Scott Jones, Food Editor of Southern Living and a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) grad describes it well: “Writers research, write, edit, proofread, and check facts (including testing recipes) in jobs such as: newspaper columnist, cookbook author, and restaurant critic. As a food editor for a publisher, you’ll review cookbook proposals and take an accepted book from contract to print. Editors also work for magazines, newspapers, and television shows, setting the content and style of their food section or programming. In this field, you’ll need strong writing skills, knowledge of culinary principles, and familiarity with current consumer and industry trends.”

That all sounds good. So, let’s look at the bad news first. The prospects of landing a job as a syndicated newspaper writer are slim and getting slimmer. The possibility of finding work as a regular newspaper columnist are thin and getting thinner as circulation and advertising numbers shrink, and few funds can be found for opinion pieces. Many resort to simple seasonal recipes with text, recipes and photographs provided free by commodity boards. Cross off newspapers as a potential employer unless you decide to become a hard food news journalist where hyper-local is the current trend.  This job has to be undertaken by a local writer.

How about food magazines?  As we all know, Gourmet is gone. The bad news here is though a fortunate few manage to secure freelance writing assignments. They are a precious few and they are, (sorry to say), often big names or “known” to the food editor. So forget about FOOD & WINE, Bon Appetit or Saveur and the other giants in the field.

This brings us to all the good news. The familiar food magazines do not provide the only home for your writings. Go to any of the major booksellers, and scan the incredible number of magazines that offer opportunities you may not have previously explored. Look at local publications too. Often the chamber of commerce or real estate groups publish their own (sometimes very handsome) magazines as do medical groups and other special interest organizations. And don’t forget about food blogs for food magazines.

Wegmans is just one of the many excellent supermarket publications, and then there are the huge number of trade magazines: FOOD ARTS, Chef magazine and Chef Educator Today, Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Business, Restaurant Hospitality, Tea Times, Mushroom Growers, as well as catering and specialty food industry publications. Check online to find the names of the astonishing number there are.

There are other ways to dip your toe in the food writing world. There are food writing courses and coaches and writing programs to choose from, though I highly recommend New York University Steinhardt Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health.

But whichever direction you decide to travel, you must write regularly. The difference between a writer and a professional writer is the professional never gives up.

There are three reasons a writer becomes successful; no one knows what they are.

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Jacques Torres

The enormously talented and exuberant Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres of Jacques Torres Chocolate, has had a career rich with many firsts, lovingly wrapped in chocolate. (World-class pastry chef, Dean of Pastry Arts at the French Culinary Institute, James Beard Foundation Award Winner, TV host, author, humble chocolatier, to name a few.)

Why chocolate? “Chocolate is a magical product, the food of gods and lovers,” he says.

When asked: What is the best training to follow to become a chocolatier?

He answers: “Education trains your mind. Practice trains your hands. You have to be willing to make lots of mistakes and that will undoubtedly lead to many discoveries. Work in the best quality places—start where you want to end up.”

And: What advice do you have for someone looking to follow your footsteps?

He responds: “Work hard, stay late, arrive early, never compromise on quality, try to learn from the people who are already in the profession and are having success, ask questions, listen to the answers.

You must have passion for this business. You can’t learn to have passion. You either have it or you don’t. Don’t get into this business unless you have that passion. If you do, then the long hours and hard work won’t matter to you.

Always stay positive. Your mind has great power. If you continually think positive thoughts, you will be more likely to succeed. Never let those around you know when you’re stressed or tired. Take control of your emotions by focusing on the good.”

Jacques Torres shop, NYC

According to a 2009 Forbes article, Jacques Torres Chocolate, launched in 2000, today comprises 50+ employees, two factories and five retail stores in New York, Atlantic City and Michigan, while pulling in $10 million in revenue in 2008, up 43% from 2007.

Forbes further reports: “That’s some tasty growth in a crowded $16 billion industry, especially at the high end where Torres plays. Small gourmet shops have caught fire in the last decade. About a dozen niche chocolatiers have popped up in New York City in the last five years. Even Hersey has piled on: spending $60 million to acquire Joseph Schmidt Confections and Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, two San Francisco chocolatiers, and a year later, scooping up Dagoba Organic Chocolate in Portland, Ore.”

If you think the sweet smell of chocolate  is calling your name toward pastry arts school, it is only a matter of finding a place to learn.

Matters Of Fact:

• Many Americans believe that chocolate has a positive influence of their psychological and physical well-being — 52% say chocolate boosts morale and 46% say it revitalizes them.
• New advertising messages suggest that chocolate is heart-healthy (especially on Valentine’s day).
• When people say they’d kill for a chocolate bar, they don’t actually mean what they say: strictly speaking, an addict may kill for a fix but chocoholics experience a craving — not an addiction.
• Video game makers have developed a series of chocolatier adventures with sweet success similar to the Farmville experience.
• The Lindt chocolate company has annual sales of $2.1 billion. The Barry Callebaut company has annual sales of $3.5 billion.

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David Ansel, the Soup Peddler

It’s been snowing so much lately and much as I love my students at the CIA, all I wanted to do today was stay at home and read by the fire after making a pot of mushroom barley soup. This reminded me of a unique food job: soup peddler extraordinaire David Ansel and cookbook author. I asked David to write about himself for my Food Jobs book. Here he describes how he created his unique recipe for success.

“An idea occurred to me whilst sitting on a porch swing at a magical house in South Austin, Texas: What if I could make a living cooking food and taking it to people’s homes? At the time I was at my wits end, trying to figure out anything I could do for a living instead of being a mediocre computer programmer, I figured making soup was worth a try. Soup was the only thing I knew how to make halfway decently.

Though I had no culinary training, I had dabbled with cooking dinners for large groups and had been spending time at the restaurant supply store. There I found little white buckets that would be perfect for taking food to folks’ houses.

Once I decided which soups to make, I had to think about how to get it where I wanted it to go. I don’t like driving and much prefer to ride my bike. I decided to deliver soup by bicycle around my neighborhood.

I needed a name for the business. I went back to the porch swing. Soup Subscription Service for Savory Soul Sustenance? Probably not. The Soup Man. Eh. Need something cute. How about Soup Peddler? Soup Peddeler? Which spelling to use? I’ll use Peddler, just in case this thing gets too big for bikes.

I sent an e-mail to my friends and neighbors describing the service. Sunday afternoon, I’ll bring you a bucket of soup on my bike. Seventeen brave customers took me up on the offer. I went out and bought an eighty-dollar pot and made gumbo in my own kitchen (not entirely legal but I had to start somewhere).

Three short years later, my staff of soup makers, peddlers, and I cook and distribute 10,000 gallons of dozens of different varieties of soup to the porches of Austinites over the course of an eight-month soup season. We now work out of a commercial kitchen. I also realized that it was not about soup, it was about lovingly-made food.

the Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups: Recipes & Reveries

I became the Ferris Bueller of Austin, liked and respected by hipsters, soccer moms, and tattooed punks equally. I have been referred to as an “American folk hero.” My cookbook, The Soup Peddler’s Slow and Difficult Soups: Recipes and Reveries, followed.

How did this happen? The task of describing the breadth and depth of the entrepreneurial effort is nearly impossible. Boot camp for the Army? Nothing. Swimming the English Channel? Yawn. Raising a child? Yeah, sorta. Spending an eternity pushing a boulder up a hill? You’re starting to get there. Of course, most of those comparison cases have their rewards, and entrepreneurship does too.

Starting your own business means you never look at the world or the people around you the same way again. It takes every ounce of your soul, and the risk is that you’ll be left with nothing to show for your efforts. The potential reward is huge, though, not the least of which is having your destiny under your own control as much as is humanly possible.”

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