Cuisine Canada Scene

The observant reader will notice we’ve added a new category — Food Writing. Since the majority of Cuisine Canada members write cookbooks, articles, columns or recipes, we thought this blog would be an ideal place to discuss the changes our profession is experiencing thanks to the Internet, portable technology and shifts in lifestyle.

At a recent food writing symposium in New York, a group of emerging and established food writers gathered to figure out where food writing was going. Are cookbooks dead? Should we blog? Will the iPad change the game yet again? The only thing everyone agreed on was that the World Wide Web is still the Wild West. and no one is sure how to rein in the broncos.

We’re confused too. While we don’t promise concrete answers, we thought a bit of discussion might help. Oh yes and controversy. Apparently that works, too.

In today’s Globe and Mail, Margaret Wente asks the very confusing and controversial question Why are Bloggers Male? Not sure where she got the “fact” she used as the column’s premise. Most of the bloggers I know are female. While most of them write about food, they also write about parenting, finances, writing, travel and film. And unlike Wente suggests, they do not “opinionize in public [as] a form of mental jousting.”  Instead, they write to inform, explore and share.

Perhaps I missed a intended tongue-in-cheek tone. Or perhaps Wente is being intentionally contrary to rack up the comments. If so, it worked. As of 5:00 PM EST, her sexist take on blogs earned more than 300 comments. While I’m impressed with the volume of feedback, her arguments left me with the distinct impression she had never read a food blog. Are food writers a different breed?

So, riding on Wente’s gender bias: When it comes to food blogs, do you notice a difference in approach between male and female food writers? Does one sex have more authority than the other? Do you feel your sex affects your approach to food writing? If so how? Speak up. We’d love to hear from you — regardless of sex.