Last weekend, I went to Miami with a low-ambition plan for my birthday: I wanted to eat stone crab claws and drink Cuban coffee, both of which I did. (The jai alai exhibit at the underrated HistoryMiami Museum was a nice bonus.)
But I aimed higher when I wrote my birthday wish list, of which my husband is the sole recipient. After swinging through Savannah last fall for a pre-release screening of The Color Purple, I had my heart set on a full weekend at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
Unfortunately, that event clashed both with my schedule and what my husband had in mind. “I’m going to give you something you really need,” he told me, which sounded suspiciously like an intervention.
In fact, that guess wasn’t far off. He rightly realized that while it might be nice for me to see A Real Pain before most Americans, I was hard up for help designing this newsletter. So, he bought a layout assistant’s services for The Food Section. I suspect her two hours of work each week will save me five times that amount of time spent resizing photos, aligning text, and adjusting columns.
What a gift! Obviously, The Food Section has more pressing present requirements than I do—and now it has its own wish list for sharing them.
From the start, The Food Section has charged for its journalism. That’s because quality coverage can’t be produced for free. This wish list breaks out just a few of our monthly expenses. For example, TFS spends roughly $142 on editing each month. Transcribing interviews costs another $29.40. You’ll find everything from printer cartridges ($17.89) to freelance stories ($1058.16) on the itemized list.
As I’ve written previously, I understand the many reasons why readers are reluctant to purchase a subscription to The Food Section or fork over the cash for a lifetime pass. Money’s scarce, and the many worthy organizations asking for it are not. But 2024 has been a major growth year for TFS, and its bills are mounting.
I firmly believe that showcasing more voices is consistent with this publication’s mission and paves the way for future financial success. In the meantime, though, TFS has to stay solvent. Which is to say: Even a small contribution helps advance the cause of independent, rigorous food journalism from and about the American South.
Can I interest you in covering one month of website hosting? It’s just $7.63. Remember, as one great Miamian (possibly greater at point guarding than pontificating) said, “I don’t think I would be here today without individuals who helped me along the way.”
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