J. Bryan Lowder
J. Bryan Lowder uses food writing to argue about how people live, cook, and navigate ethical choices, blending sharp opinion with practical guidance for home cooks. He is a senior editor at Slate and co-host of the Outward LGBTQ podcast, and his remit spans life, culture, advice, queer issues, with a special focus on food and drink. His food pieces tend to be argument-driven, slightly provocative, and grounded in his experience as an avid home cook.
Food ethics and what counts as meat
Lowder’s most widely discussed food essay argues that chicken stock does not count as “real meat,” on the grounds that it contains a very small percentage of animal flesh.
In that piece, he challenges rigid interpretations of vegetarianism and questions how strictly hosts and diners should police ingredients like broth. The column sparked strong reaction from vegetarian and vegan readers and was debated across other publications and online forums, which treated his stance on chicken stock as a deliberate provocation.
This controversy shows how he uses food as a way to test the boundaries of dietary labels and social obligations, pushing readers to think about what their rules actually mean at the table.
Service writing and strong opinions for home cooks
Alongside argument pieces, Lowder writes service-oriented food columns that tell readers exactly how to cook a dish and why his way is better.
In “A Southerner Explains How You’re Doing Grits Wrong,” he combines direct, almost corrective advice with step-by-step technique to teach a classic comfort food, writing from the perspective of an avid home cook. In more recent work such as “Once You Make It, You’ll Never Go Back,” he frames a recipe around a bold promise that a particular preparation is worth switching to for good. His pie column, “Forget Strawberry-Rhubarb.
This Mysterious, Unconventional Pie Is the One You Should Be Baking Right Now,” takes the same approach, urging readers to move beyond the familiar and try a less conventional dessert in clear, persuasive prose. He tends to spotlight approachable dishes - grits, pies, and other homey foods - and pairs accessible instructions with assertive claims about taste and technique.
Domestic space, taste, and cultural criticism
Lowder also writes about the spaces and media around food, not just the recipes themselves. In one widely noted piece, he critiques the push for open-plan kitchens, taking aim at the standard argument that knocking down walls automatically improves everyday cooking and entertaining.
He draws on long hours watching HGTV and other lifestyle television to examine how design trends shape people’s expectations of domestic life. This kind of cultural criticism treats kitchen layout, privacy, and performance as part of food culture, showing how architecture and aspirational TV influence what people think a “good” kitchen should be.
Across these essays, he uses food as a lens on taste, status, and the gap between televised ideals and the reality of home cooking.
Editorial role in food, drink, and LGBTQ+ culture
Beyond his bylines, Lowder plays a central editorial role in shaping the magazine’s food coverage.
He is listed as a key contact for pitches on food and drink, as well as LGBTQ+ culture, which positions him at the point where culinary stories meet broader questions of identity and community. As a senior editor who also covers life, culture, advice, and queer issues, he brings a wide-angle view to food stories, favoring pieces that connect eating and cooking to ethics, social norms, and cultural debates. His mix of reported service columns, commentary on domestic space, and polarizing essays about meat signals an interest in food that goes beyond restaurant reviews to how everyday choices in the kitchen reflect larger values.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.