Vancouver Sun Food Section

[eatrustic]

I picked up todays Sun and as usual glanced over the sorry excuse we have for a food section. I wasn't going to bother saying anything but after looking at the lead picture for the article "Catch of The Holiday" about substituting salmon or trout for turkey I was stunned at how awful the picture was. They used it to illustrate the fact that "breaking with tradition can be a tasty experience". It truly is one of the worst, lazy, sorry excuses for food styling photography I have ever seen. Just a dry, dead trout on top of some dry salad greens with lemon wedges. And this should make anyone want to skip the Turkey?

The larger question is why a segment of the population that obviously spends money on all things food should be ignored and subjected to such crap on a weekly basis.

The funny and truly ironic thing is that in the same paper the Vancouver Sun had the nerve to put a self promoting insert that trumpeted "Content is Crucial" with such comments as "It's not the wine glass that is important. It's what fills it that matters. The same can be said of the Vancouver Sun." That is a direct quote and is repeated three more times with different examples. They even have the nerve to talk about "Compelling photograpy" and "Insightful reporting".

OK I guess I'm flogging a dead horse here but much smaller cities have way better food coverage in their papers and the plethora of food bloggers and food tabloids around here show that there is no shortage of interesting stuff to write about. The bottom line is money and I can't believe that our demographic is not worthy of better treatment. Perhaps if they combined Gismondis wine page with Mia's restaurant stuff it might be something worth buying every week.

[Ducky]

Once you realize that the Sun does everything badly, I think you'll find the food section won't annoy you quite as much.

[Ducky]

I take that back. There is Jonathan Manthorpe. Worth the price of a subscription right there.

[Pat Churchill]

It looks like the article has been taken from a sister publication. Could be the photo is a stock photo, and not one taken specifically for the article. Happens sometimes in feature pages that need an illustration.

After the dead trout and the vegan alternatives, gimme turkey.

We don't do Thanksgiving down under but I've poached rainbow trout for Christmas - as a starter. Whenever I take a family vote they want roast turkey or lamb and all the trimmings, even when the temperature is 30C or more.

[BBQ Brian]

My parents send me regularly the food sections from the Edmonton Journal and I have to admit, they are far more appealing than the local news rag(s) in the Vancouver market.

But then again, what are we looking to see for content? Simply better photo's? Not necessarily so... just cooking ideas? I do tend to peruse Simi Sara's daily recipe in the daily freebie rags - that's interesting to me. But how about you?

Brian

Edited October 5, 2006 by BBQ Brian (log)

[Memo]

Could be the photo is a stock photo, and not one taken specifically for the article.

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The photo is by Jean LeVac of the CanWest News Service - and clearly looks like he or the prop artist/stylist plonked a still-chilled trout on a plate with some slices of juiceless lemons.

Memo - yum-yum my tum-tum this weekendum

[eatrustic]

But then again, what are we looking to see for content?  Simply better photo's?  Not necessarily so...  just cooking ideas?  I do tend to peruse Simi Sara's daily recipe in the daily freebie rags - that's interesting to me.  But how about you?

Brian

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A good food section should be an mix of interesting recipes, articles on local food and products, comparison tests of locally available things like olive oils, canned tomatoes, etc., something like a chef's night off -what he or she makes for dinner with recipe or where they like to go on their night off. These are all things that have been done in the past here and elsewhere and often the budget necessary is very small.

Photography is obviously not the most important aspect but when almost every single food shot posted here by local e gulleters is miles above what is taken by a professional then there is clearly a disconnect (more the fault of the editor then the photog but I would have removed my name from such trash). Here is the photo/article I was taking about, it was a lot larger and the feature image in Wednesday'spaper:Vancouver Sun

[baconburner]

Eatrustic

Unfortunately in Vancouver we have one paper masquerading as two under the same mismanagment. Until we get competition mediocracy will prevail. There are a lot of Advertorials. Look at the Real Estate and Automotive Travel & Leisure Sections and try to get objective information.

The food to a non pro sometimes has some good recipes but I rely more and more on the web

Cheers

Baconburner

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quote=eatrustic,Oct 4 2006, 11:38 PM]

I picked up todays Sun and as usual glanced over the sorry excuse we have for a food section. I wasn't going to bother saying anything but after looking at the lead picture for the article "Catch of The Holiday" about substituting salmon or trout for turkey I was stunned at how awful the picture was. They used it to illustrate the fact that "breaking with tradition can be a tasty experience". It truly is one of the worst, lazy, sorry excuses for food styling photography I have ever seen. Just a dry, dead trout on top of some dry salad greens with lemon wedges. And this should make anyone want to skip the Turkey?

The larger question is why a segment of the population that obviously spends money on all things food should be ignored and subjected to such crap on a weekly basis.

The funny and truly ironic thing is that in the same paper the Vancouver Sun had the nerve to put a self promoting insert that trumpeted "Content is Crucial" with such comments as "It's not the wine glass that is important. It's what fills it that matters. The same can be said of the Vancouver Sun." That is a direct quote and is repeated three more times with different examples. They even have the nerve to talk about "Compelling photograpy" and "Insightful reporting".

OK I guess I'm flogging a dead horse here but much smaller cities have way better food coverage in their papers and the plethora of food bloggers and food tabloids around here show that there is no shortage of interesting stuff to write about. The bottom line is money and I can't believe that our demographic is not worthy of better treatment. Perhaps if they combined Gismondis wine page with Mia's restaurant stuff it might be something worth buying every week.

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