Center for Collaborative Journalism Partners with Local Media Outlets to Tell ‘Macon Food Story’

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Macon Food Story

MACON – Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism (CCJ) and its media partners, The Telegraph, Georgia Public Broadcasting and 13WMAZ, are launching a community project called Macon Food Story, sponsored by the Knight Foundation.

A 30-minute special introducing the project will air Sept. 12 at 5:20 p.m. on 13WMAZ.

Through next April, the three local media outlets will be publishing stories that can be read, watched and listened to about the history and culture of Southern food.

The stories will break down health and food access in the South, especially in Macon. The community is invited to get involved with the project by sharing their food stories and joining in on a conversation involving questions such as, “If you had to describe your family traditions through a recipe, what would it be and why?”

“Community members are invited to join our Facebook group, Macon Food Story, where we keep the conversation going about many of the topics you’ll read, hear and see. You can also start new topics and share recipes and ideas,” said CCJ Engagement Reporter Sonya Green.

Local events will also be hosted for discussing the topics. The next event, which is free and open to the public, is called “Taste of Southern Food History” and will feature culinary historian Michael Twitty on Sept. 14, 6-8 p.m., at William S. Hutchings Career and College Academy located at 1780 Anthony Rd. in Macon.

Twitty is a food writer, scholar, culinary historian and historical interpreter who studies African American foodways, its parent traditions in Africa and its legacy in the food culture of the American South.

He won the 2018 James Beard Foundation’s Book of the Year Award for The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, and he maintains a blog called Afroculinaria.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

About the Center for Collaborative Journalism

The Center for Collaborative Journalism (CCJ) is a unique partnership between Mercer University, The Telegraph and Georgia Public Broadcasting, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Peyton Anderson Foundation. The Center’s groundbreaking collaboration has students, faculty and veteran journalists working together in a joint newsroom. Learning in a “teaching hospital” model, students engage the community using the latest digital tools and leave with a strong portfolio of published work.