Food Blogger Code of Ethics

A few weeks ago, I wrote about ethics and sponsorships after reading an article in the New York Times, and it created quite a lively conversation. I also recently had a conversation with some friends about this topic and everyone agreed that it’s best to disclose, so as not to muddy the waters with what's been given and what's been bought.

Today, as I was reading the Guardian on-line, I found a piece about a food bloggers' code of ethics, which I thought was very interesting, and could be revised slightly to encompass bloggers who write about products and services.

The Food Blog Code of Ethics is from a blog entitled exactly Food Ethics. Here’s the Code which they’ve written.

The Code
We wrote the Food Blog Code of Ethics after many heated conversations with fellow food bloggers. Those discussions inspired us to lay down some basic guidelines for food writing on the Internet because we couldn’t find any that already existed. These aren’t laws that we expect everyone to follow. These aren’t rules you have to accept as your own. We know they don’t apply to everybody. They’re a jumping off point to start a bigger discussion.

The Code is not intended to limit anyone’s freedom of speech. We offer these pages to advocate accountability, accuracy and honesty in the world of food blogging. The Code is designed as a set of guidelines, not a punishable set of laws.

1. We will be accountable

• We will write about the culinary world with the care of a professional. We will not use the power of our blog as a weapon. We will stand behind our claims. If what we say or show could potentially affect someone’s reputation or livelihood, we will post with the utmost thought and due diligence.
• We understand why some bloggers choose to stay anonymous. We respect that need but will not use it as an excuse to avoid accountability. When we choose to write anonymously for our own personal or professional safety, we will not post things we wouldn’t be comfortable putting our names to.
• If we review a restaurant, product or culinary resource we will consider integrating the standard set of guidelines as offered by the Association of Food Journalists.

2. We will be civil.

• We wholeheartedly believe in freedom of speech, but we also acknowledge that our experiences with food are subjective. We promise to be mindful—regardless of how passionate we are—that we will be forthright, and will refrain from personal attacks.

3. We will reveal bias

• If we are writing about something or someone we are emotionally or financially connected to, we will be up front about it.

4. We will disclose gifts, comps and samples

• When something is given to us or offered at a deep discount because of our blog, we will disclose that information. As bloggers, most of us do not have the budgets of large publications, and we recognize the value of samples, review copies of books, donated giveaway items and culinary events. It’s important to disclose freebies to avoid be accused of conflicts of interest.

5. We will follow the rules of good journalism

• We will not plagiarize. We will respect copyright on photos. We will attribute recipes and note if they are adaptations from a published original. We will research. We will attribute quotes and offer link backs to original sources whenever.

Even though this code is for food bloggers, I think that it is a good basis for most bloggers who write about products, services and the like. I am very interested in your thought on this subject.

Crabs on Sunday

Last Sunday, a group of Baltimore food bloggers got together at LP Steamers in Locust Point to carry on several local traditions. We picked some crabs, drank some beers and the wandered a couple of blocks over to eat some snoballs.

Although nine people came, we know that there are lots more food bloggers in the area. It was great to see the group who came, and we missed those who didn't.

Julie & Julia at Wegmans

Everyone's looking forward to the upcoming film, Julie & Julia, which opens in wide release on August 7th. If you'd like to be one of the first to see it, show up at Wegmans on Monday, July 27th, between 11 a.m. and 2p.m. to receive two passes to see the movie on July 30th. Click here for a preview of the movie.

As an extra incentive, Wegmans will be giving free samples at their cafe!

Are you going to go see this movie? Is it this summer's Sex & The City?

APRIL FOOD DAY

Do you know that...

• One in eight Americans are at risk for hunger?
• Four million Americans receive assistance from Feeding America each week?
• Children who are hungry have slower emotional, social and educational development?
• Millions of elderly Americans go to bed hungry every night?

It is so critical that those of us who are not in this position help those that are. So many people who never thought they would need food assistance are now asking for help from their local food bank. They have lost their jobs through the massive down-sizings and layoffs. They have exhausted all of their resources. Elderly people on fixed incomes are finding that costs are out-pacing their incomes.

First-time requests at food banks are at an all-time high, but the shelves are bare. Corporations and foundations have decreased their donations and individuals are so uncertain about their own finances, that their giving has slowed.

We are asking that you make a donation, even if it's just a dollar or two, or maybe take a box of canned goods to your local food bank. It will help someone who may be less fortunate than you are.

Here's the link to Feeding America, an affiliation of more than 200 food banks across the country. Chances are that your local food bank is a part of this network.

We're all in this together, and that's the way we will come through it... together.

Please help today. The need is great and the time is now. Thank you so very much.

Omnivore's 100 - My List

The VGT Omnivore's Hundred with things I've tried in BOLD. 69 out of 100... not too shabby!

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile/Alligator

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat's milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S'mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs' legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

Market Meet Up DETAILS

Unfortunately, my partner in crime, Kitchenography, will be out of town for the weekend, so I am going to have to do this on my own! We usually arrive at 8:00 and meet at the Reed's Farm stand on the "uptown" side of the Market. Since I am going to be up late watching Michael Phelps' debut on Saturday Night Live, I can predict I will be having a bad hair day in the morning. So to clue you in as to who I am, I will be wearing this hat:So, let's try and gather at Reed's at 8:ish... we'll wait a little for you. Post a comment either here or on Dining @ Large and let me know if you'll be coming. I may bring nametags so we can identify you by your screen name or your blog. Maybe I will do something with a pig for mine!

Look forward to seeing you then!

Mark Bittman's 101 for Summer

Today's New York Time's food section has another part of my favourite series: Mark Bittman's 101 Easy Things. Today, he features 101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics. Among the goodies he suggests are:

• PESTO CHICKEN ROLLS Season and grill chicken cutlets. Brush lavash or any other wrap-type bread with pesto; layer with the chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and arugula; roll up and cut on the bias.


• Use a spoon or melon baller to make equal size pieces of watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, or, I don’t know, Charentais. Mix together and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt or (better still) chili, sugar, salt and lime.


• Cook fusilli or other cut pasta; rinse in cool water, but don’t bother to chill. Combine with chopped seeded tomatoes, cubed fresh mozzarella, chopped basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. (Good with olives, too.) Do not call this pasta salad, because pasta salad is no good, and this is!

Bittman has a great sense of humour and these simple recipes (almost no measurements are given) will make you want to pack up a picnic basket and find a great place to go!

Kitchenography

You should take a moment and wander over to Kitchenography to see what she did with the beautiful veggies I brought back from the Eastern Shore.

She takes the most gorgeous pictures! YUMMMMM

It's a Miracle!

Last evening, fellow Baltimore Blogger, Raspberry Eggplant, hosted a Miracle Fruit Party at her lovely flat on Mount Vernon Place. She invited several of the other Baltimore food bloggers, many of whom we'd met before at the Great Tastes Expo and at the Blogger Brunch. Here's a little video of RE explaining how the fruit works.

In addition to the bloggers, Rob Kasper, food and drinks columnist and blogger for the Baltimore Sun attended. Earlier on Friday, one of Raspberry's friends, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme had done a short segment on Miracle Fruit on Maryland Morning on local NPR station WYPR. You can listen to the segment here.

We started out with a half a piece of fruit each, just so we could draw out the experience. The instructions were to swirl it around out mouths to coat the entire mouth so no blank spots would remain. Then pop in a piece of citrus, either grapefruit, lemon, lime or orange and see what happens! My piece didn't take right away, so the slice of lime I ate nearly sent me through the roof! After a few minutes, I tried again and it worked.

We also tried Angostura Bitters, pomagranate molasses, sour patch kids, bitter melon, rhubarb, tomatoes, Granny Smith Apples, Guinness, vinegars and more. The citrus fruit didn't have the sharp acidic taste associated with it, the sour patch kids tasted mellow, the rhubarb was crunchy and sweet and overall, everything had a warm round flavour.

It was a very fun evening, with lots of great conversation and laughter. We all thank Roopa for being such a lovely hostess on this adventure!

Great Tastes Culinary Expo

You may have noticed a little logo on the right side of this page... it's the logo for the 2008 Great Tastes Culinary Expo which will be held on Saturday, February 23 at the Tremont Grand in downtown Baltimore. This day-long expo features seminars on a variety of food and wine related topics, appearances by chefs including Warren Brown, John Shields and Christopher Paternotte. Among the special features of the Expo is a panel discussion by a number of Baltimore-area food bloggers, including Pigtown-Pigout.

Tickets are available here and can be purchased at a range of price points. Hope to see you there!