Kate Leahy
Kate Leahy is a freelance journalist and digital editor who covers food for The Independent, bringing a health-conscious, service-driven angle that grows out of her wider work in travel and lifestyle reporting.
Food Safety And Health-Focused Coverage
In her food coverage for The Independent, Leahy writes about the risks that sit inside familiar eating habits rather than in abstract nutrition theory. Her work includes pieces on the health hazards that people face around summer barbecues, treating domestic cooking as a place where food safety and enjoyment intersect. She approaches these subjects in clear, practical terms, focusing on what readers need to watch for when they cook and share food at home.
Food As Part Of Lifestyle Reporting
Leahy’s food beat is rooted in a broader specialism in travel, lifestyle and news, which shapes how she frames food stories as part of everyday living rather than as a standalone niche. Her professional profiles describe her as a writer and editor whose core territory is lifestyle journalism, and that informs the way she connects eating habits, health concerns and leisure time into a single narrative.
She is used to writing across different lifestyle sections and formats, so her food pieces sit comfortably alongside travel features, culture coverage and general service journalism.
Travel And Lifestyle Features Across National Outlets
Before and alongside her work for The Independent, Leahy builds much of her portfolio in travel and lifestyle journalism for national and consumer publications.
She has written and edited across multiple sections of a major Sunday newspaper, including its travel magazine, giving her experience in destination-led stories and long-form lifestyle features. Her freelance work spans outlets such as The Times, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Spectator, Cosmopolitan, Stylist, Women’s Health, Wanderlust and BA Highlife, where she contributes pieces that sit at the intersection of travel, modern living and service content. This breadth means her food writing is informed by an understanding of how people actually travel, relax and socialise, and how eating fits into those routines.
Editing, Commissioning And Digital Production
Leahy’s reporting is underpinned by a decade spent in-house at The Sunday Times, where her role covered editing, writing, commissioning and production across print and digital platforms. She has worked as a digital editor on a Sunday newspaper style section, and as a digital production editor for an online magazine focused on solo travel, managing content management systems, article layout, image selection and SEO. Her recent work as a senior journalist on a major news website involves subbing copy, refining headlines and supplying SEO information across online news channels, giving her a close feel for how stories are packaged and found.
This editorial background makes her food coverage tightly structured and search-aware, with a strong emphasis on clear headlines, direct language and actionable ideas.
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.