J-School establishes 11th Hour Fellowship for journalists reporting on food and agriculture

Promising journalists with passions for food and agriculture have a chance to pursue those interests — and those of us who care about what we eat may see it in a new light — thanks to The 11th Hour Project, a program of The Schmidt Family Foundation.

The 11th Hour Project, part of the foundation started by journalism alumna Wendy Schmidt ’81, funds eight Food and Farming Journalism fellowships of $10,000 each. They are part of an endowment set up in 2013, with five years of funding and a handful of spots reserved for UC Berkeley J-School alumni.

“By creating these generous fellowships,” Dean Edward Wasserman says, “Wendy has greatly strengthened an already formidable part of our curricular effort, which has established the School of Journalism as a magnet for people who are committed to high-impact coverage of food — its production, quality, adequacy, and availability.”

The fellows are young and mid-career journalists producing ambitious long-form stories about food and agriculture. Michael Pollan, the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, established the program and edits the fellows’ work along with lecturer Malia Wollan.

The fellowship is as broadly defined as its recipients are curious. They are invited to report on subjects ranging from nutritional policy to global supply chains, from food science to urban farming and agriculture in an era of climate change.

The results — the work of the 2013 fellows alone — appear in The New York Times Magazine, PBS’ NOVA Next, PRI’s The World, VICE magazine, Mother Jones, and Slate. Readers and listeners have learned from the 2013 fellows about cold storage in China, teenage immigrant farm workers, the use of probiotics to increase agricultural production, industrial pork producers, seeds and food deserts.

Bill Gates tweeted a link to one of the fellows’ stories to his nearly 17 million followers. Another story was viewed more than 32,000 times, while another was among Slate‘s most emailed. Among the comments on one of the articles was this from a New York Times reader: “At a time when less and less time, money, and effort is being spent on truly deep, long-form reporting, stories like these remind us all why good journalism is irreplaceable, inimitable, and worth paying for.”

For two 2013 fellows, their time at UC Berkeley was only the beginning of their collaboration. Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley now co-host Gastropod, a popular wide-ranging podcast dedicated to exploring “food, with a side of science and history.” Recent episodes have examined the shape of our cutlery, the effort to map the plant microbiome, and the food replacement drink Soylent.

Members of the 2014 class, who are print and radio journalists, are beginning to publish and air the work the fellowship has allowed them to develop.

“The second class of fellows is remarkably accomplished,” says Michael Pollan, “and come to us from China, Brooklyn and the Bay Area with some very promising ideas. Already one has been placed at The New York Times, and another at New York magazine. Also this year for the first time, we have three radio fellows, working with Alex Blumberg [This American Life, Planet Money] to refine their stories.”

Keep an eye on what the 2014 fellows are up to by following them on Twitter: Sierra Crane Murdoch (@sierramurdoch), David Ferry ’12 (@ferryin140), Daniel Fromson (@dfroms), Ferris Jabr (@ferrisjabr), Rebecca Kanthor (@RebeccaKanthor), Casey Miner ’10 (@reedminer), Erica Mu (@whatsnewwithmu) and Peter Andrey Smith (@petersm_th).

Top row: Rebecca Kanthor, Ferris Jabr, Erica Mu, Dan Fromson

Bottom row: visiting editor Davia Nelson, Peter Smith, Sierra Crane-Murdoch, Malia Wollan, Michael Pollan, Casey Miner, David Ferry, visiting editor Paul Tough.