Thoughts on the State of Food Media: Treefort Panel 2025

It is no secret that 2024 and 2025 have been tough years for food journalism in the United States, with a number layoffs happening across the industry. It’s against this national backdrop that at the end of March we hosted a panel discussion on the Podcast stage at Boise’s Treefort Music Fest.

Our live podcast - also a part of Treefort’s Foodfort programming - brought together voices and perspectives from across Boise’s restaurant and food media landscape to tackle topics ranging from how the rise of new local media has affected the restaurants they cover, to the question of what makes someone an expert or authority on food? 

The conversation we had at Foodfort also touched on a lot of trends that are being experienced in cities all over the country. And so a few weeks after the panel, we also chatted with Dana Cowin, a former long-time editor of Food & Wine magazine, founder of Progressive Hedonist, and one of our colleagues at HRN, the Heritage Radio Network. 

Guests:

• Dana Cowin (Founder, Progressive Hedonist)
• Becca Alamilla (Co-owner, Amano)
• Kara Jackson (Managing Partner & Editor, BoiseDev Eats)
• Natalie Plummer (Creator, Hello Meridian and Podcast Host, The Boise Bubble)
• Scott Charles (Moderator,  Boise Food Finds Facebook group)

We are a part of HRN. Help us create a more sustainable world by shifting the way we think about food by supporting HRN's first ever two-week fundraising drive.