Two offers for the Substack reluctant

Rewards in store for discerning readers

I’m feeling bullish on Substack this week because the newsletter platform of its own accord reached out to The New York Times when it failed to credit The Food Section’s original reporting in a story about Aunt Fanny’s Cabin. After Substack got in touch with the newspaper, editors “reevaluated” the story and inserted a hyperlink to The Food Section’s coverage.

(Maybe I need to update those The Food Section t-shirts with a new slogan: “So good you’ll want to steal it!”)

Still, despite my pro-Substack sentiment, I only subscribe to a few newsletters: I pay to read what Paul Bowers, Dave Infante, Jason Sandford, and Robert Simonson write. If it’s relevant to your interests, you should too. To me, that feels like just a shade short of plenty.

But there are newsletters devotees out there who read that many Substacks before breakfast. An enthusiast recently told me she subscribes to 120 Substack newsletters.

Based on how many of you set up Substack profiles to keep tabs on The Food Section, I’m guessing your reading habits are more like mine—which means you might be eligible to collect $60 from Substack.

Substack is now conducting a reader research survey, but the folks in charge of it are having trouble finding people who read three or fewer Substack newsletters. Since interviewees receive $60 in Amazon or UberEats funds in exchange for one hour of their time, I offered to pass along Substack’s call for participants.

If you’re 18 or older and use an iPhone (sorry, not my rules), the signup form is here.

Interviewees can also opt to receive $120 in Substack credit instead of a gift card, which would cover the cost of The Food Section if you’re not already a paying subscriber. Just sayin’.

And if you haven’t yet subscribed to The Food Section because you prefer to read stories in print, good news! The Spring 2022 quarterly, featuring a selection of The Food Section’s recent stories, is now on newsstands.

This time, I mean that literally. While the first print edition of The Food Section was published, it was available exclusively through Amazon. But readers in the Charleston area can find copies of the latest release at The Daily, 652B King Street. Bet that quarterly would pair nicely with a breakfast pita.

Have a great weekend.

Take care,

Hanna

Correction: Akram Khater’s last name was misspelled in Wednesday’s edition. The Food Section regrets the error.

If you’re not paying for The Food Section, here’s what you missed this week:

• As Cherokee frybread makers in western North Carolina invest in food trucks, they’re grappling with how much of their culture they want to share with non-Native eaters.

  (N.B: You didn’t really miss this story: After The New York Times published its oddly familiar take on Aunt Fanny’s, I lowered the paywall to make a point. As I wrote on Twitter: “I've taken down the paywall so you don't have to wait until a big media company rewrites it: I hope you will consider supporting The Food Section's work.” Have a read!)

• It’s grits rolling season across the South.

• Eaters in Macon, Georgia have been captivated by a new Brazilian restaurant’s YouTube channel.