In “How food became a weapon in America’s culture war,” a collaboration with The Nation, Brent Cunningham points to how food has been used as a front in the nation’s ongoing culture war, a proxy for larger issues of character, morality, and patriotism. It began in the 1990s and evolved over the ensuing decades, as what we eat and how it’s produced became a national debate, and as culture clashes—over affirmative action, gay marriage, school curricula, abortion, and so on—seeped into every corner of our lives.

The story was shared by NewsBreak (local news app) and was included in Grist‘s newsletter and blog, The Beacon.

The story saw over 10,000 impressions and 150 engagements on Twitter. Those who engaged with the piece included North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ, 470 followers), Richard Waite (World Resources Institute, 9.7K followers), Woodcock Foundation (510 followers), Christopher Shay (deputy editor at The Nation, 5.8K followers), Lizzy Ratner (The Nation, 2.4K followers), Sara Van Note (journalist, 250 followers), Bettina Makalintal (Eater, 34K followers), and Michael Grunwald (Amanda Klonsky (Doctor of Ed. Research and Policy Fellow at UCLA Law, 2.4K followers).

On Instagram, the story saw over 1,600 impressions and 200 engagements. Those who engaged with the piece included Katy Keiffer (Heritage Radio, 460 followers), Alexis Adams (reporter, 700 followers), Christian Letourneau (cook & writer, 700 followers), Michael W. Twitty (James Beard 2018 best writing/book of the year MasterClass, 90K followers), Meredith Leigh (author, “The Ethical Meat Handbook,” 8.6K followers), Climavores podcast (140 followers), Food+Tech Connect (12.3K followers), Food Forward (15.3K followers), A Growing Culture (nonprofit focused on food sovereignty, 85.4K followers), the Bee Girl Organization (grassroots nonprofit centered on bee habitat conservation through research, regeneration, & education, 35.2K followers), Iskashitaa Refugee Network (nonprofit focused on reducing food waste and integrating refugees into Southern Arizona, 1.9K followers), CloverCroft Farm (regenerative/organic farm in Ontario, Canada, 1.5K followers), Hopscratch Farm (family-run farm in Maryland, 1K followers), Moon Water Farm (learning center focused on food and culture, 6K followers), Megan Weeber (regenerative ag through a holistic lens, 420 followers), Sustainable Wellness (Nutrition and Health Education for Human and Environmental Sustainability. Missoula, MT. 1.3K followers).

Our media partner for this story, The Nation, reaches an online audience of 4.4M per month, has 2 million social media followers, and has a print circulation of 100K.