Hanna Raskin

I mostly love that he went for the peanut butter whiskey. As someone who has spent a great deal of time in ABC stores, I can assure you that his tastes line up with those of the average shopper: He just has more legs and less tolerance.

I know I'm notorious for saying every story is a food story, but dollar stores really are where rural America shops for groceries--for reasons outlined in this insightful and maddening investigation of another company picking the pockets of our nation's poorest consumers.

Opening the shrimpgates - The Food Section TFS peels back seafood fraud allegations

After shrimp fraud allegations rocked the Southern restaurant scene, @thefoodsection.bsky.social took a closer look. Our verdict? Diners can stop worrying about being hoodwinked—and start thinking about how the promotional campaign behind the scandal played out. thefoodsection.com/opening-the-...

Lucky parents! As @thefoodsection.bsky.social reported a few football seasons back, recruitment's all about wining and dining the moms. thefoodsection.com/the-mother-o...

Man with a child

You can count on @poynterinstitute.bsky.social to do journalism right! Touched that @amariscastillo.bsky.social called @thefoodsection.bsky.social's ABC evaluator, mortgage broker Kodaah Hansen (pictured here 20 years ago, when he was in Big Brothers with my husband.) www.poynter.org/business-wor...

It's not every Monday that I get to use the terms "gender parity" and "blackened salmon" in the same subhed. Thanks, Steve!

Feeling our way through the data minefield - The Food Section AI poised to pervert wine appreciation

As David W. Brown writes, "In the wine world, there are only two stories right now: People are drinking less wine, and climate change is destroying winemaking." Yet he's found another at their nexus: AI is assaulting the planet and undermining sensory perception. thefoodsection.com/feeling-our-...

Air of resistance - The Food Section Fighting baker’s lung in black lung country

Based on reader feedback, lots of folks weren't familiar with baker's lung before reading our West Virginia correspondent's coverage of one pepperoni roll factory's efforts to combat it. Even if you're fluent in flour dust threats, check it out! thefoodsection.com/air-of-resis...

When the Food Journalist Needs Food Stamps A personal story about dignity, survival, and the systems that decide who gets to eat — plus the latest on Doppy’s comeback and Chicago’s Whistlemania movement.

When the Food Journalist Needs Food Stamps by @serenamaria36.bsky.social

Decision Desk has called both of Georgia's statewide races, for public service commissioner, for Democrats.

If confirmed, this would be a really huge win for Democrats:

It'd be their first statewide win in any non-federal race since 2006!

This is independent media at its best. Tune in!

Review: Malagon serves marvelous food to those allowed into downtown Charleston restaurant Malagon is making exceptional food, but its owners don’t want you or me to know it.

If anyone's seeking comment on the restaurants which made Michelin's American South list, my count shows I've eaten at 117 of them (but famously not Malagon; couldn't resist resurrecting this one.) www.postandcourier.com/food/restaur...

(I'd wager on a timing mixup, since our clocks confound Europeans.)

A Taste of Excellence: MICHELIN Guide Announces Inaugural American South Selection This evening the MICHELIN Guide announced the inaugural selection for the American South, and it features 10 One MICHELIN Star restaurants in addition to...

While a spokeswoman distinguished the release forwarded to @thefoodsection.bsky.social by @ashevegas1.bsky.social from tonight's "official release," she didn't respond to a question about its accuracy. Enjoy with lots of salt! www.globenewswire.com/news-release...

Said more and more in the post-Spaghetti corpse era.

It’s Michelin morning in the American South - The Food Section Long view from Michelin Guide Texas’ foremost observer

Want to sound smarter than your friends when chatting about what tonight's Michelin ceremony in Greenville will yield? Today in TFS, @alisoncook.bsky.social shares her one-year-in observations from Houston. thefoodsection.com/its-michelin...

The Food Section's ABC rankings page is shaping up nicely, with another set of store scores today, along with a look at the state's amaro deficit by @btparsons.bsky.social and an appreciation of Amarula, frequently offered by clerks familiar with just one ama- liqueur. thefoodsection.com/abc/

I made this column!

The best-read book in Scotland County - The Food Section Laurinburg ABC store is home to unique cocktail guide

One of the first myths we demolished about North Carolina's ABC system when we set out to rank stores statewide is that each store is the same as the next. Many thanks to @davidwondrich.bsky.social for weighing in on a cocktail guide only found in Scotland County: thefoodsection.com/the-best-rea...

We filed 171 public records requests - The Food Section How TFS followed the ABC money

If you're going to read just one installment in our North Carolina ABC store rankings package, make it this one: thefoodsection.com/we-filed-171...

Thank you for watching! Hope you enjoyed.

The ABCs of drinks journalism - The Food Section TFS unveils its most ambitious project yet

If you've gone from one North Carolina ABC store to the next, fruitlessly looking for amaro, take five bucks from that unspent liquor budget and buy The Food Section's ranking of 97 ABC stores across N.C. Here's why we pursued this massive secret-shopping project: thefoodsection.com/the-abcs-of-...

The massive number of marchers is encouraging, but it's the small groups of protesters which make the movement meaningful. Thanks for covering, @mississippifreepress.org

Scenes from Italian restaurants - The Food Section Connecting with cuisine in Hanahan, South Carolina

Come out and play, all you restaurateurs hell-bent on replicating NY/NJ interpretations of Italian cooking in the Carolinas. In today's newsletter, my thoughts on the cuisine's promise and growth potential in the American South. thefoodsection.com/scenes-from-...

"We are unable to respond to feature pitches that lack a description of a clear, central storyline/thesis..." I suffer from that condition too!

Keep in mind: We know about the places that PR doesn’t promote because we travel and eat on our own dime. That’s why I hope you’ll consider paying to read this important story.

Every day, @thefoodsection.bsky.social implicitly counters contemporary food journalism’s shortcomings—but sometimes we have to take on legacy media directly. Many thanks to Candy Hom for sharing her accounting of the AJC’s new 50 Best Restaurants list. thefoodsection.com/looking-for-...

The recap is free to read, but only paying TFS subscribers this week met our new W. Va. bureau chief (how many media orgs have one of those?), learned about the best baleada in Aiken, S.C., and heard from an Asheville brewery worker fired for an FB post. Don't miss out! thefoodsection.com/subscribe/

Sucking up space in Southern towns - The Food Section Vape shops occupy every conceivable cranny

I spent years fishing for numbers to show vape shops are opening across the South at the expense of independent restaurants, and netted nothing--but was able to establish the retailers are taking over cultural space that once belonged to F&B. thefoodsection.com/sucking-up-s...

“For decades there has been a very large money spigot open to those who are willing to sow hatred, bigotry, inequality and intolerance...Not so much being a plain ol' reporter or critic, stating facts and making necessary arguments without fear or favor.” #supportculturaljournalism