Food writing and food based media events have expanded enormously in the last five years. For decades The Edmonds Cook Book was regularly in the top 10 books sold each month in NZ, along with the Bible and the latest book about rugby or hunting. Now, most frequently in the Sunday Star Times /Booksellers top ten poll, the Bible has been replaced by other cook books and the Edmonds Cook Book is regularly bumped off the list. Food writers are writing their autobiographies, or travel books, and more interestingly, a new breed of writer is exploring the writing of a previous generation, such as in "Julie and Julia" (the book and film). What’s more, this century, television abounds with celebrity chefs spitting, chomping, or mincing their way through issues of quality and presentation, and Master Chef is the new spectator sport. There is even a whole Sky channel devoted to food. Clearly it is big business at the present and for every celebrity chef there is an entourage of writers, designers and producers supporting their act. What of the future for food writing and presenting? Will blogging supersede Edmonds Cookbook? Will Jamie and Hugh have egg on their faces? In an increasingly unfair world, can we afford to keep cannibalizing the same resources?
This paper will consider food writing as symptomatic of the convergence of genre, technology and culture that is a feature of this century, in particular with reference to audience theory and the political economy approach to the media.

Finally, as teachers of writing, what can we learn from this genre and how can we use this phenomenon to improve the reading and writing experience for the next generation of writers?