RIP, Gourmet
It was my favorite food mag, always inspiring, often thought-provoking. Their piece on modern-day slavery in Florida's tomato fields had tremendous impact on raising broad awareness of the issue - and likely helped the Coalition of Immokalee Workers gain some much needed traction in the media.
And the recipes, the recipes.. Sorry Bon Appetit, you can't compare.
Tom Philpott, spot-on as always, on the demise of Gourmet:
And this brings us to the real trend behind the Gourmet story: the power of axe-first, ask-later consultants in molding the media landscape in a time of crisis. For weeks now, according to various reports, grim-faced outsiders in suits have swarmed the Condé Nast offices. Employed by the consultancy McKinsey, their evident task is to scrutinize the books and hack away at anything not turning a profit.Yet in their search for maximum short-term profit and return on invested capital, they tend to be myopic, unable to see beyond the next quarter’s bottom-line prospects.
Sigh.
(via Grist)