Recipes & copyright

Copyright & recipes are a complicated topic. Some recipes are not considered original enough to be protected - such as mac & cheese or apple pie. Some legal theorists believe there should be protection for some dishes. Here is a blog post about it.

When in doubt, recall it out

Here is a great story by Daniela Torres about a voluntary recall at Winn-Dixie.

Salt: Consumer Food News

Here is a good example of a consumer food story that looks at the amount of salt in a dish compared to recommended guidelines.

Food writing cliches

Here is a link to list of food writing cliches to avoid. Here is another list of food words to avoid.

Student Press Law Center

Here is a link to the Student Press Law Canter's FOIA letter generator. In pairs, make a food-related FOIA request.

Finding Food Story Ideas

Spotting trends and developing story ideas can be challenging. Here is a great resource for finding new ways of writing about organic food. Here is a great resource for writing about food truck economics. Speaking of food & economics, here is a great resource for evaluating food prices. Here are some food story ideas that you may be able to localize. Food blogs are also a great resource. Food Politics is one of my favorites. Localization of national programs can lead to great stories. Here is a national program that provides free breakfasts for low-income children. Is there a Central Florida connection?

Pink Slime lawsuit

Remember the pink slime story that we were talking about in class? Here is a story about a newly filed lawsuit over the ABC story above.

Florida Food Policy Council

When you are looking for story ideas, are you checking local Florida food groups like the Florida Food Policy Council?

Food News: blog vs newspaper coverage

Compare how this newspaper covered the question of food truck food safety differently in the print edition versus the blog post

about the same topic.

Health Inspection Records and Food

Here is a link to Tampa ABC station's regular pieces on dirty restaurants. Here is a data base of restaurant health inspection records that the Sun Sentinel created based on public records. Here is an overall story on grocery store violations from the Lakeland Ledger.

Food Bank Trend?

Here is a story from yesterday's USA Today about food banks. This is the kind of trend piece that is easy to localize.

Food Business Story

Here is a food business story. This is the kind of story that can lead to a trend piece - are Orlando-area restaurants doing this?

Florida & Food Store Safety

The Division of Food Safety is housed in the Florida Department of Agriculture. Here is a link to the web page. There is helpful information about food store safety records. Another state agency oversees the inspections of restaurants. Here is a link.

Food Regulation Column

Here is a great column that examines food regulation by the government.

Farmers, the Drought & YouTube

Farmers are using YouTube to demonstrate the impact of the drought. Here is the NPR story. This could be a great localization trend story idea.

Goat Farming & the Drought

Here is another weather-related food story about goat farming. Is there a localization possibility?