The Code
by foodethics
In order to form a more perfect union of food bloggers, we offer this five point code of ethics. We encourage dialogue, participation and insights from other concerned bloggers.
1. We will be accountable
- We will write about the culinary world with the care of a professional. We will not use the power of our blog as a weapon. We will stand behind our claims. If what we say or show could potentially affect someone’s reputation or livelihood, we will post with the utmost thought and due diligence.
- We will not hide behind total anonymity. Even if we choose to write anonymously for our own personal or professional safety, we will not post anything that we wouldn’t feel comfortable putting our name on and owning up to.
- If we review a restaurant, product or culinary resource we will hold ourselves to a standard set of guidelines as offered by the Association of Food Journalists.
2. We will be civil
- We whole-heartedly believe in freedom of speech, but we also acknowledge that our experiences with food are subjective. We promise to be mindful, regardless of how passionate we are. We will be forthright, but will refrain from personal attacks.
3. We will reveal bias
- If we are writing about something or someone we are emotionally connected to, we will be up front about it.
4. We will disclose gifts, comps and samples
- When something is given to us or offered at a deep discount because of our blog, we will disclose that information. As bloggers, most of us do not have the budgets of large publications, and we recognize the value of samples, review copies of books, donated giveaway items and culinary event, but it’s import to disclose freebies to avoid accusations of conflicts of interest.
5. We will follow the rules of good journalism
- We will not plagiarize or use images from others without attribution. We will research. We will attribute quotes and offer link backs to original sources whenever possible. We will do our best to make sure that the information we are posting about is accurate. We will factcheck. In other words, we will practice good journalism.
Food Blog Code of Ethics 
Cool, novel, fresh idea.
I think that this code of ethics comes at the right time. Number 3- we will reveal bias is especially pertinent, please keep your ultra patriotism out of your blogs. Passion is one thing but that’s another.
Shouldn’t the issue of recipe sourcing be covered as well?
Thanks, Bowl of Plenty. We thought that fell under following the rules of good journalism…but maybe we should make sure we’re more specific. Thanks for the feedback.
This is great! I also love that you are putting a badge together. Thanks so much for doing this. In addition, you have great blogs – fantastic to read and the visuals are stunning.
I think that this project is problematic. A more in-depth explanation is here.
I think that this points to not only ethical integrity but also artistic integrity. I can’t tell you how much I hate a post that’s clearly based on a free or giveaway product that doesn’t disclose it. It just makes the blog look shabby and reflects poorly on the community as a whole.
I do think a code is important, but it’s also important that it be a living document.
We couldn’t agree more, Kate. As more people get involved in food blogging and this discussion there are bound to be changes.
Really applaud this. I’ll be mentioning it (complete with backlinks, natch) later today. Right now, in fact
If people sign on to this, changing it out from under them is unethical. I wish this project had begun with some sort of version control.
I think you make a good point, kitchenhacker, and it’s something we’ll have to figure how to address. Stay tuned!
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Hey Guys, I am sorry to rant but I was so angry when I heard about the Food Bloggers Code of Ethics I just had to say something. This post isn’t about self healing but about self expression.
Naturally there are people, who feel left out of the community, who feel they need to establish some type of code of ethics or be the center of attention when they cannot provide an exceptional point of view. If these bloggers had integrity they would not be trying to tell others how to do their work.
Blogging may seem like journalism but it is not. Of course the newspapers, websites, and media outlets reference many blogs in their reports. They hardly mention them all. Perhaps all your schooling did not prepare you to discern what the public wants. You were trained to report on the activities of the world and it’s people. You should ask for a job with a food blogger because you have misplaced yourself once again on the scale of things.
Fascists always believe they have the interest of the people at heart. They start out trying to make a fairer and more peaceful world. They gather their sheep into the fold until there is a manic call for justice. But as history has shown, the sheep become the lambs for slaughter. Very soon the badge of honor becomes so important to the sheep that those who started it all will now decide if what you write, post or discuss is acceptable.
Soon you will be pointed into directions THEY want you to go.
So welcome once again Adolph, Pol Pot, Hugo, Fidel, and the food code police. But this is as far as you go.
Permission Denied
Sorry, we are a unique and interesting bunch of writers who have found some people who care about a topic and in the language it is spoken in.
I don’t choose to swear in a post but there are bloggers I follow that do that I love because in the topic they speak of, I feel the same way.
Anyone who feels they must have a badge to do good work is not much of a person.
It reminds me of the narrow-mindedness of zealots. They are all dangerous.
So thank you for telling us who you are and the blogs you represent so we can turn our minds off to them and you will disappear.
Oh by the way, if a chef thinks he is worth $150 a plate and serves up an experience you want your money back on. We are going to keep telling everyone about it and not repeat a fool’s errand.
If you cannot watermark or use a tracer program with your photos then you belong nowhere near technology.
And lastly, I hope you all well because you have embarrassed yourselves and the media outlets you work for.
I cannot relate to the idea that because some people lump all food bloggers together, we should all band together and make up some rules to follow in an effort to change their minds. I think there’s something very strange about that approach. Maybe it’s not the right analogy, but when I encounter sexism, for example, I don’t feel like I need to address all of the issues that the perpetrator of it has with women and point out all the ways in which I as an individual am different — instead I am far more likely to write that person off as a clod and go on about my business. And I feel pretty much the same way whenever I read about someone making dismissive statements about food bloggers as a whole. First, because such criticism nearly always sounds huffy and ill-conceived, and second, because I don’t think we are a monolithic group. I certainly don’t feel like I am a part of one. And if other food bloggers want to create bad reputations for themselves, I don’t feel that it reflects upon me. I am aware that in the eyes of some people it does. Without a doubt there are some blustery people who like to speak of us as a whole. But those are not people whose opinions keep me up at night.
Also, with regard to restaurant reviews, your approach looks very US-centric to me. The reviewers for UK papers, from what I’ve read, seldom make any effort to be anonymous when they visit restaurants. I am guessing that many of them would tell you that their position on anonymity is to some extent a cultural difference and not an indicator of sloppy ethics. The organization whose standards you point to (AFJ) says that most of its members are from the US and Canada. I would not be surprised if organizations serving primarily other countries take different positions on anonymity and other issues.
And finally, I think that the people who are most in need of ethical guidance are either not going to adopt your code, or will adopt it but will go on making ethically dubious choices. Maybe it’s cynical of me, but I think that a majority of people who make ethically dubious choices (for example, using a recipe or a photo that someone else previously published without attributing it in any way) don’t do so out of ignorance but instead do so either because they are lazy or because ethical considerations aren’t important to them. I certainly don’t think that the rest of us should give up on even discussing ethics; all I am saying is that I don’t think this Code is going to turn dishonest people into honest ones. Likewise, I don’t think slapping a badge on any particular blog is going to signify — to me, at least — that the author of it does indeed embody all the ethics they purport to have signed on for.
Also, I just want to clarify something I said: When I said “their position on anonymity is to some extent a cultural difference and not an indicator of sloppy ethics,” I should have been more clear that I think the other extent (or one of them, anyhow) is that there is a legitimate difference of opinion on the necessity of reviewers remaining anonymous. There are plenty of people who, apart from whatever the national convention is, believe that other considerations are more important, and that it is possible to fairly review a restaurant even if recognized as a critic.
I have a problem with a code of ethics that permits one to accept comps when writing about a place. Fessing up is not enough. Credibility and accepting comps are mutually exclusive.
A lot of the things in this code of ethics seem like common sense to me. Sure, you could steal other people’s content, forget to attribute and not disclose your bias, but people will catch on, and the quality of your blog will reflect it. Most of these things are simply a matter of appearing professional. Not everyone seeks to write a professional-looking blog, and that’s OK.
Maybe I’m naive, but I haven’t encountered any food blogs that seem to violate the above recommendations — certainly none of the blogs I read regularly. That’s not to say my photos haven’t been stolen by other bloggers, but I’ve never seen them stolen by other food bloggers.
Nice article! Thanks!
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It’s a very important point that you’ve raised. With regards to staying anonymous, a pseudonym can be useful when booking a restaurant i.e. the restaurant won’t know the person making the booking is a reviewer. Having said that, I agree 100% that you should be contactable and always willing to stand behind your comments. It’s not good enough to write anonymously and sling harsh opinions without people being able to respond.
A nice article. Congrats for taking the time.
this is very important because it defines what your ethical standards are and it clearly states them so that you could hold yourself accountable to those standards.
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