How one class grew from the roots of reading and writing to an urban garden that shapes our thinking about food, community and the journey from the field to the table.




In this class, students are encouraged to reflect and blog about what resonates with them during the work we approach each week. Once a week, usually later in the week, my students submit entries, we go over them and see what will get posted. ~Mary Ann D'Urso, Instructor




Ruth Reichl & Gourmet Magazine

  
Adelia Rivera



    Today we listened to a podcast to begin studying different methods of interviewing. I chose to listen to the Leonard Lopate show on WNYC.org. I tuned in to his January 12, 2010 interview with Ruth Reichl, former Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine.
    As I listened to this interview, two things popped into my head. I was astonished to hear that one of the number one food magazines, which had been around for 68 years, is dead. This magazine, which is older than me, is no longer around for me to read. I used to have a stack of these magazines in my kitchen. Just thinking about them, I remember the amazing recipes I would cook for my family.
   Then, on the other hand, I started to wonder if there could have been anything that Ruth and her staff could have done to save this iconic magazine. I mean 8 test kitchens is a bit much, along with the yearly trips around the world to send staff to culinary schools. I feel that all this was not necessary, especially for the financial difficulty that this country -- and the publishing business -- is facing. They needed to roll with the times and cut down expenses. Truthfully, I can go to the website allrecipes.com, to get new recipes, at no cost.
    Still, I understand that Gourmet -- possibly the king of foodie magazines -- needed to preserve its reputation.Ruth, who was on tour promoting Gourmet's new cookbook came back to find that the magazine was closing. She said to Leonard that she did not she see it coming. She called it a "huge loss." We would never be able to find that kind of "luxury" where there is a team of people devoted to a magazine, Ruth said in her interview.
    I for one, agree with this statement. In my home, we love to take photographs, so naturally, we admired the photography published in Gourmet. They could always manage to make a photograph of one single and simple item look so beautiful just by the lighting.
    In my opinion, I think that we all need to be a little more frugal as far as finances. If nothing else, Wall Street has taught us that none of us knows what will happen tomorrow. Ruth, along with all the other people behind the scenes at Gourmet, lived a luxurious life. Vicariously, so did we.

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