| Founded | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Country | Great Britain |
| Key people | Jane Suthering, President |
| Office location | London, England |
| Website | www.gfw.co.uk |
The Guild of Food Writers is the professional association of food writers and broadcasters in the United Kingdom. It has over 390 authors, broadcasters, columnists and journalists amongst its members.
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The Guild:
(a) brings together professional food journalists, broadcasters and authors, both at Guild events and via the internet;
(b) prints and issues a comprehensive and detailed Annual Directory of Members;
(c) broadens the range of members’ knowledge and experience:(i) by arranging discussions, forums, comparative tastings and visits, including an annual lecture dinner and monthly workshops, and(ii) by publishing a regular journal, Savour;
(d) encourages the development of new writers by every means including competitions and Annual Awards for Food Writing and Broadcasting;
(e) contributes to the growth of public interest in, and knowledge of, the subject of food, including running an annual children’s cooking competition, CookIt, and an annual young people's food writing competition, CookIt-WriteIt;
(f) campaigns for improvements in the quality of food; and
(g) offers professional support and guidance to its members.
The objectives of the Guild, as set out in its Constitution, are as follows:
To bring together professional food writers.
To print and issue an Annual Directory of Members.
To extend the range of members' knowledge and experience and keep them informed.
To encourage the development of new writers by every means, including competitions and awards.
To contribute to the growth of public interest in, and knowledge of the subject of food.
To campaign for improvements in the quality of food.
The Guild is twinned with the ASA (Associazione Stampa Agroalimentare Italiana).
The Guild aims to contribute to the growth of public interest in, and knowledge of, food and to campaign for improvements in the quality of food produced and consumed in the UK.
Current Guild Food Policy extends to such issues as:
Pressing for the introduction of practical food skills into the national curriculum and of healthy meals into schools
Calling for a halt to the commercial sale and development of GM products until they are proved to be safe both for our health and the environment
Campaigning for more government assistance for organic farming and supporting those working in organic food production
Working for food labelling that protects the consumer's right to choose
Campaigning for a reduction in food miles
Working towards the elimination of food poverty
On 12 April 1984, a group of the great and good in the British food world gathered for lunch at London’s Intercontinental Hotel to enjoy a lunch devised by the hotel’s chef Peter Kromberg.
Among others, Lady Arabella Boxer, Elizabeth David, Christopher Driver, Jane Grigson, Claudia Roden, Michael Smith and Katie Stewart enjoyed a Petit Nage de Sole et Homard aux Asperges, followed by Magret de Canard au Foie Gras en Cage, with a Soufflé au Fromage preceding an Assiette de nos Desserts. The purpose of the event was to discuss the formation of an ‘association of food writers’. A debate arose about whether or not it would be an élite Académie in the French style or something along the lines of the already existing Circle of Wine Writers. The latter won the day, but in so doing lost the group the support of the person who had been seen as its first president, Elizabeth David.
On 17 January 1985, the first actual meeting of the Guild of Food Writers took place in Claridges, under the chairmanship of Derek Cooper.
In the years that have followed, the Guild has grown to a membership of around 370 professional writers, editors, journalists and broadcasters in the field of food, nowadays equally at home in Thai gastropubs and famers’ market food tents as in the marbled halls of grand hotels.
The Guild has become a significant force in its field, being among the first organizations to lobby government about the potential risks of Genetically Modified food; to emphasize the importance of local produce and food producers; to encourage seasonal eating; to attempt to raise the standard of food in our national institutions, from schools and hospitals to prisons and even motorway cafés; and to encourage children to cook.
The Guild’s annual awards for food books, journalism and broadcasting are now regarded as the premier awards in the field, and its annual CookIt and WriteIt competitions aim to identify and foster the great cooks and food writers of the future.
Membership is open to those who, for payment, under their own or a pen name, write or broadcast on food for consumer, trade, professional or academic publications or organisations, and whose work is regularly published or transmitted in the UK.
Prospective members should be able to show one of the following: at least one substantial food or cookery book already published by (but not limited to) an established publisher; the equivalent in food or cookery work e.g. editorship/cookery series/food column etc.; have been in regular employment over a six-month period writing or broadcasting about food for a recognised professional publication or organisation. Applications are discouraged from those whose work is entirely or predominantly on behalf of a client or clients who pay the applicant a fee for promoting a specific product or service.