Amy Clarke
Amy Clarke focuses on how shifting food trends, rising costs and sustainability concerns play out in everyday eating. Her coverage centres on practical explainers that bridge big changes in the food world with clear guidance for consumers and small food businesses.
Food trends and changing tastes
Clarke tracks how new ingredients, formats and dining habits move from niche interest to the mainstream.
In her piece on food trends for 2026, she sets out the ideas and products she expects to dominate both tables and social feeds, framing them as part of wider cultural and economic shifts. A separate feature on summer food trends highlights how seasonality, social media and convenience drive what people cook and buy, showing her interest in the way trends translate into specific dishes and occasions.
She writes in a list-based, forward-looking format, using clear, accessible language to explain why a trend matters and how it fits into existing eating habits. Her work in this area positions her as a regular guide to what is coming next in food rather than simply documenting what is already popular.
Budget-conscious and sustainable eating
Alongside trends coverage, Clarke writes service pieces that help readers reconcile sustainability goals with tight food budgets.
In her article on eating sustainably on a budget, she explains how buying directly from producers can cut costs while ensuring more of the retail price goes to farmers, and sets out practical ways to prioritise high-welfare meat and organic vegetables without overspending. She returns to cost and value in a feature about swapping expensive superfoods for cheaper, dietitian-approved alternatives, updating the piece over time to reflect changing prices and evidence, which underlines a commitment to keeping guidance current.
Across these articles she treats sustainability and nutrition as questions of everyday decision-making, offering concrete swaps and shopping strategies rather than abstract principles. This emphasis on usable detail distinguishes her from more purely trend-led food writers.
Heat, logistics and the business of food
Clarke also looks at how practical challenges and extreme weather affect the people who sell and serve food. Her report on how ice cream vans handle high temperatures examines what happens behind the scenes when heat makes both demand and operating conditions more intense, focusing on the mechanics of keeping products cold, routes viable and businesses profitable. The piece treats ice cream vans as small, mobile food enterprises, showing how they adapt pricing, working hours and equipment as temperatures rise.
By foregrounding operational detail and the pressures on vendors rather than only the consumer experience, she adds a business and logistics lens to a beat often dominated by recipes and restaurant openings.
Format and reporting style
Clarke’s food coverage combines reported features with structured explainers, often built around clear subheadings and step-by-step advice. In her sustainability and superfoods pieces she incorporates expert voices from dietetics and food systems, using their input to anchor recommendations while keeping the tone direct and practical. Her trend round-ups lean on concise descriptions and concrete examples of products or dishes, helping readers understand how a broad movement might show up in their own kitchens. Across subjects, she favours plain language, specific tips and a consistent focus on what readers can do differently tomorrow, which sets her apart from more purely descriptive food reporting.
4 more food journalists.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What's On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose food and leisure coverage is built around immersive, first-person reporting and concrete detail. He works at the Manchester Evening News, focusing on new restaurant and bar openings, regular food reviews, gig and event coverage, and issues affecting LGBTQ+ people. He treats restaurants, pubs, bars and experiences as stories about place, people and community, explaining what makes a venue different and how it fits into the local dining scene. His pieces cover pricing, service, atmosphere, crowds and concept, and he is willing to be critical when gimmicks undermine the experience. He writes character-led pub profiles, works shifts, joins treasure hunts and attends major cultural events, inviting readers to follow what he does and use his straightforward assessments to decide where to eat, drink and spend time.
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd is editor at Secret Manchester, where she treats food as part of how people live in the city, not as an isolated subject. She covers restaurants, bars, street food and casual dining, linking new openings and food trends to neighbourhood change, local businesses and everyday routines. Her pieces focus on accessible spots, comfort dishes like pizza and tacos, and clear details of menus, presentation, atmosphere and practical information such as opening hours and booking. She often combines food, drink and live events, producing guides to venues for major sports tournaments and themed pop-ups as part of wider things to do. Alice also reports on hospitality business pressures, city-centre public spaces, charity initiatives, transport and infrastructure, always showing how food and drink fit into community and lifestyle stories. She previously wrote for other regional “Secret” sites as a staff writer and describes herself as a writer and food fanatic.
Aly Walansky
Aly Walansky specializes in service-driven food coverage that treats cocktails and dining as tools for celebration, focusing on how logistics, ordering options, and menu choices turn everyday meals and major holidays into shared experiences. She is a longtime food and travel journalist now writing for Forbes, where her beat centers on cocktails and occasion-driven dining. Her work includes practical, expert-driven roundups such as guides to many variations on the classic martini, shipped-meals gift lists for Mother’s Day, and accessible formats for Thanksgiving and other holidays. She reports through structured lists, restaurant features, and menu-focused profiles that highlight signature dishes and dining trends. Across outlets, she extends this approach to home cooking, grocery shopping, and recipes, and runs a newsletter that shares her current assignments and industry commentary.
Barra Best
Barra Best combines daily weather reporting with environmental documentaries for the BBC. He is a senior weather presenter, reporter and documentary maker, working across television, radio and online. His beat is weather and climate, including storms, heatwaves, record temperatures, changing seasons and their effects on communities, travel, agriculture, transport, outdoor work and food. He also covers biodiversity, wildlife, coastlines, rural communities and outdoor life. His programmes include Walk the Line, Weather Watchers, Coast Lives, Barra on the Foyle, Barra on the Bann, Barra’s Return of the Wild and Barra’s Wild Days Out. His reporting uses data, charts and clear explanations to connect science with daily life. He presents on location, interviews contributors and follows environmental stories over extended filming. He also hosts live events, panels, charity broadcasts and educational projects.