Feminist Food Friends: A new food writing collective
Join our first event on September 29th
We’re so thrilled to announce the launch of Feminist Food Friends (FFF for short).
WHAT IS FFF?
FFF is a new collective started by eight food writers: Isabela Bonnevera and Zoë Johnson (Feminist Food Journal), Apoorva Sripathi (shelf offering), Clare Michaud (Beurrage), Devin Kate Pope (The Good Enough Weekly), Margaux Vialleron (The Onion Papers), Sarah Duignan (anthrodish), and Steph Marsden (Amuse).
We envision FFF as a collaborative space for food-minded people. Through what we’re calling ‘Slow Collaboration’, we’re looking to learn from each other in ways that don’t feed into the culture of constant production that dominates algorithmic platforms and mainstream media. Our founding members have all orbited each other for a few years now; most of us have already worked together in some shape or form, steadfastly resisting the pressure to try and pull ahead, instead seeking to amplify each other’s work and accomplishments. Coming together within the container of FFF is our attempt to deepen our collaboration and expand this circle of curiosity and care. If you work with food, or are interested in the ways food sharpens and expands our understanding of the world — this collective is for you, too.
As part of FFF, we’ll take turns hosting online workshops every other month. These workshops will be free to paid subscribers of any of our publications, using the promo code in the email header (also listed below the paywall).
JOIN OUR FIRST MEET-UP ON SEPTEMBER 29
Our first FFF event will be a panel all about getting to know the people behind the publications and our shared vision. Mark your calendars for September 29, 7 am PST/10 am EST/3 pm GMT/4 pm CEST!
REGISTER FOR OUR FIRST WORKSHOP: FFF MEET-AND-GREET — THE STATE OF WOMEN IN FOOD WRITING AT https://luma.com/a4mibq9c. FREE FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS, STARTING AT $3 FOR EVERYONE ELSE.
Isabela Bonnevera, the co-founder of Feminist Food Journal, will facilitate a conversation about what it means to be a woman in food writing, and where we go from here. We’ll discuss what FFF means for its founding members and what we’re aiming to achieve. We’ll share how we (try to) balance writing our newsletters alongside other responsibilities, such as jobs, care work, and tending to our own health needs, and how that influences the logistics of working together across a vast swath of time zones.
Most importantly, this first event is as much about introducing ourselves to you as it is about your presence: What would you like to see from FFF? How would you like to participate in this space? How can we support your work, too? This event will be about 90 minutes long and have plenty of time dedicated to audience Q&A.
If you’re looking for a sense of community amidst the fractures of the current political moment, this is it! You can expect FFF meet-ups to be gentle, playful, and potent moments to come together with like-minded people from around the world. The option will be open for anyone part of FFF (not just the founding members) to host their own talk or workshop — although this by no means mandatory!
WHAT’S NEXT?
Here is taste of the other kinds of workshops you can expect in the next few months:
The Politics and Potential of Food Zines by Devin (The Good Enough Weekly)
How to host a banging dinner party — and why it matters by Isabela and Zoë (FFJ)
Book talk: Alone In the Kitchen with an Eggplant by Clare (Beurrage)
Dough Therapy: A pasta and creative workshop hosted by Margaux (The Onion Papers)
No-Bullshit Nutrition 101 by Sarah (anthrodish)
Again, these workshops will be free for paid subscribers who support the work of at least one member of our collective; for anyone else who would like to join, they will be ticketed on a sliding and ultra-accessible scale. The promo code for paid subscribers is in the email header, and also paywalled at the end of this post. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber to FFJ and/or any of these publications, now is the time!
MEET THE FFF (SO FAR)
Some of us are already friends, IRL or online. FFF will be a process of getting to know each other, and getting to know you. If you aren’t familiar with some of us, we’ve taken the liberty of saying hello below – each introduction is written by another member of the collective.
Isabela Bonnevera and Zoë Johnson (Feminist Food Journal):
I remember the excitement of first discovering Feminist Food Journal, staying up past bedtime to read the early issues on MILK, WAR, and SEX! FFJ blends the rigour of an academic journal with a playful, engaging tone that is more accessible to a larger audience than traditional publications. Founders Isabela and Zoë, both storytellers with academic backgrounds in food systems/policy, met serendipitously. Crossing paths with them, I quickly saw how friendly, talented and hardworking they are. Dedicated to their vision, FFJ prioritises collective voice over individual ego and constantly challenges, innovates and inspires. I’m excited for the FFF project to bring that same spirit to life - building bonds, meaning and intimacy through a desire to nurture food system change. – Steph, Amuse
Clare Michaud (Beurrage):
Clare’s writing met me at a time when I needed it most in life, exploring themes that challenged notions of linear time, grief and healing, body politics, and productivity through the lens of baking and kitchen spaces. As a writer and baker from Wisconsin, her dedication to locally-grounded solutions and the opportunities that baking present is evident through her gracefully crafted essays. Clare’s Beurrage newsletter showcases the possibilities of life through her expositions of laminated doughs and the patience and gentleness required of them. To read Clare’s work is to feel like time has stopped just long enough to inspire a sense of awe, and I am so thrilled to work alongside her more for FFF. — Sarah, AnthroDish
Devin Kate Pope (The Good Enough Weekly):
Devin is a talented essayist, whose work is engaged and a true show that, as Devin says, ‘building a just and sustainable world requires all kinds of work’. From her dispatches sent from Zine fairs to her entries about what she is reading and cooking and essays about food systems, climate, labour and poverty, I never miss an occasion to get thinking and doing with Devin’s Good Enough Weekly newsletter. We haven’t had a chance to meet yet, but I know that I’d enjoy being in the kitchen with Devin. – Margaux, The Onion Papers
Apoorva Sripathi (shelf offering):
Apoorva is a true polymath — a writer, editor, illustrator, and cook whose skills in each area always take my breath away. Her work is tender yet incisive, and I look forward to her essays every time I see them in my inbox. Not to mention, she’s a kind, loving, and genuinely funny person. I’m so grateful that she chose to pitch us for our first issue, MILK, back in 2022, as having her as both a professional and personal confidante since then has helped me feel less alone in the world of online publishing. – Isabela, FFJ
Steph Marsden (Amuse):
Steph is a wonderfully talented and kind person whose work as a writer, designer, and researcher constantly leaves me in awe. Reading her writing is the equivalent of hearing a friend talk about their endless, fascinating projects and thinking 'you are fucking amazing' (or maybe without the swearing)! Her new guest column in her newsletter Amuse, is a generous and thoughtful offering for writers; it is a thought for change and I think that sums Steph up so well: she is an agent of change for the good. I had the privilege of collaborating with Steph on a writers' group, Big Feelings, a loving community where women food newsletter writers nourished each other, and the calls Steph and I would have about that slowly turned into such a meaningful friendship. – Apoorva, shelf offering
Margaux Vialleron (The Onion Papers):
I first came to Margaux’s writing through our shared interest in baking and in using baking to think about time, space, and existence. Her writing, whether through fiction (The Yellow Kitchen and most recently, Breaststrokes) or her reflective essays, is welcoming, intimate, and generous. Margaux brings readers closely along with her as she shares the food she’s been cooking, philosophies that have been swirling around her head, and the artists’ and writers’ lives that hold her interest alike—and this never fails to hold my interest. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity through FFF to get to know her more. – Clare, Beurrage
Sarah Duignan (anthrodish):
Sarah deftly weaves facts, figures, and stories into a whole new–and better–thing, bringing her full experience as an anthropologist to the table. I appreciate both Sarah’s rigorous critiques of fraught issues of our time, like protein and Ultra-Processed Foods, as well as her personal essays about motherhood and pregnancy. Anthrodish is one of my essential reads for thinking about food, culture, and identity with nuance, and Sarah is a delightful and confident wayfinder. – Devin, The Good Enough Weekly
REGISTER FOR OUR FIRST WORKSHOP: FFF MEET-AND-GREET — THE STATE OF WOMEN IN FOOD WRITING AT https://luma.com/a4mibq9c. FREE FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS TO ANY OF THE PUBLICATIONS BELOW USING THE PROMO CODE IN THE EMAIL HEADER/BELOW THE PAYWALL.