Civil Eats

CIVIL EATS IS A DAILY NEWS SOURCE FOR CRITICAL THOUGHT ABOUT THE AMERICAN FOOD SYSTEM. WE PUBLISH STORIES THAT SHIFT THE CONVERSATION AROUND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN AN EFFORT TO BUILD ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY JUST COMMUNITIES.

SINCE 2009, CIVIL EATS, AN INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT DIGITAL NEWS SITE ABOUT THE AMERICAN FOOD SYSTEM, HAS FOCUSED ON HIGH-QUALITY, ORIGINAL JOURNALISM WHICH BREAKS NEWS, EDUCATES LEADERS AND POLICYMAKERS, AND SERVES AS A RESOURCE FOR BROADER MAINSTREAM MEDIA. CIVIL EATS BRINGS A CLEAR AND COMPELLING VOICE TO A COMPLEX RANGE OF ISSUES. OUR 13 YEARS OF REPORTING EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT COMPLICATED AND OFTEN UNDERREPORTED STORIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE, THE ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND ON POLICY ISSUES SUCH AS HEALTH AND NUTRITION, ARE ALL MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO A MAINSTREAM AUDIENCE THROUGH OUR NUANCED, SOLUTIONS-ORIENTED REPORTING. FOR THE FIRST FOUR YEARS, CIVIL EATS OPERATED WITH NO FUNDING AND AS A LABOR OF LOVE. NOW MORE THAN A DECADE LATER, CIVIL EATS HAS ACHIEVED SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND REACH: IT RAISED AN UNPRECEDENTED $100,000 VIA KICKSTARTER IN 2013, WAS NAMED PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR IN 2014 BY THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION, INDUCTED INTO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IN 2019, AND WON THE IACP DIGITAL MEDIA AWARD FOR BEST GROUP FOOD BLOG IN 2020, ALL WITH VERY LIMITED RESOURCES. FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF NAOMI STARKMAN WAS A 2016 JOHN S. KNIGHT FELLOW AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY AND WAS NAMED 2021 JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR BY HUNTER COLLEGE. CIVIL EATS HAS REPORTED ON SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD AND AGRICULTURE STORIES OF OUR TIME. UNIQUE IN THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE, FOOD JUSTICE HAS BEEN CENTRAL TO ITS REPORTING SINCE OUR INCEPTION. CIVIL EATS COLLABORATES WITH HIGH-PROFILE PRINT AND ONLINE PUBLICATIONS, INCLUDING NBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN, HUFFPOST, PBS/ITVS, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, EATER, MAPLIGHT, SALON, SLATE, QUARTZ, PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL, TIME, HARVEST PUBLIC MEDIA, FOOD & WINE, AND KQED, THE SAN FRANCISCO NPR AFFILIATE. THESE PARTNERSHIPS BRING CIVIL EATS IMPORTANT STORIES TO MILLIONS OF NEW READERS, EXPANDING THE DIALOGUE ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE. THE SITE IS ON THE REGULAR READING LISTS OF POLICYMAKERS IN D.C. AND GRASSROOTS LEADERS ALIKE, AND ITS STORIES APPEAR IN DAILY NEWS ROUND-UPS, AND ARE SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY ELECTED OFFICIALS. IN 2021, CIVIL EATS PUBLISHED 270 ARTICLES WITH MORE THAN 130 REPORTERS. CIVIL EATS CONTINUED TO FOCUS ITS REPORTING ON THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON THE FOOD SYSTEM AND IN PARTICULAR, ON FOOD ACCESS AND NUTRITION. IN ADDITION, IT REMAINS UNPARALLELED IN THE MEDIA MARKETPLACE FOR ITS COMMITMENT TO REPORTING ON FOOD JUSTICE AND INDIGENOUS FOODWAYS. ITS NEW STREAMING VIDEO SERIES, CIVIL EATS TV, WAS NOMINATED BY THE PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CULINARY PROFESSIONALS AND AN IN-DEPTH FEATURE REPORTED BY ASSOCIATE EDITOR CHRISTINA COOKE,FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION, ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM AND CORPORATE AGRICULTURE IN HOG COUNTRY, WAS A FINALIST FOR THE 2022 PHILLIP D. REED ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING AWARD ORGANIZED BY THE SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER. DESPITE THE CHALLENGING YEAR, AND A HYPERACTIVE NEWS CYCLE, THE TEAM WAS SUCCESSFUL ON A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL FRONTS. FOR THE FIRST TIME, CIVIL EATS WAS ABLE TO STABILIZE AND GROW, DUE TO MULTI-YEAR FUNDING FROM A NUMBER OF FUNDERS. THIS MUCH-NEEDED, LONG-TERM INVESTMENT HAS ALLOWED CIVIL EATS TO MAKE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS IN ITS GENERAL OPERATING COSTS AS IT TRANSITIONED TO A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT AND FINALLY MADE ITS CHRONICALLY UNDERPAID EDIT TEAM EMPLOYEES (UNTIL 2021, ALL PART-TIME AND FREELANCE). THE TEAM MET ITS 2021 GOALS OF HIRING AN EDITOR OF COLOR, CREATING A NEW NEW INDIGENOUS FOODWAYS FELLOWSHIP AND IDENTIFYING A NATIVE REPORTER, IDENTIFYING A NEW SENIOR REPORTER, AND HIRING A NEW CONTRIBUTING INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR. TO MEET READERS NEEDS, AND THE TEAMS OWN DESIRE TO REPORT UNTOLD STORIES AT THE HEART OF OUR FOOD SYSTEM, CIVIL EATS IS INVESTING IN A NEW INVESTIGATIVE DESK WITH THE GOAL FOR 2022 TO PUBLISH FOUR OR MORE LARGE STORIES ON CORPORATE POWER AND THE FOOD SYSTEM, WITH A NUMBER OF SHORTER STORIES THROUGHOUT THE COMING YEAR.