What gives a food copywriter umami?
My father was a Nestle salesman. My mother is the best cook on earth. And I, my friends, am their copywriter love child.
Growing up surrounded by freezers full of my father’s chocolate samples, you would think I would tire of candy. You would think anything that ubiquitous would become meaningless. You would think.
However, life at our house was not just about the candy.
It was about the food.
No matter how much there was, or how much we talked about it, no one in my family ever tired of the food.
From my sister’s trips to the health food store for freshly squeezed, raw, organic juices; to family discussions about the superiority of Nova versus other smoked salmon; to my father, daily asking my mother “Are you making something good for dinner?” to which my mother would reply “No, I’m making something bad,” buying, selling, cooking, eating, talking and worrying about food was Job 1.
Dieting was Job 2.
Endlessly on the search for the perfect health and weight-loss diet, I learned the benefits and drawbacks of just about every type of cuisine, calorie, carb, fat and protein count – not to mention food combining.
Kombucha? I can tell you its probiotic properties.
Carrot juice? High in sugar.
Yin and yang? Stay balanced between the two by living on brown rice.
I could have rebelled.
Instead, I have turned into a copywriter who specializes in food and restaurants.
There is nothing quite like finding that sweet copy spot, that little emotional word-nudge that makes the mouth water and the car drive to the grocery store at midnight.
Maybe it’s some sort of primordial need to feed.
Maybe it’s just fun.
Maybe I’m good at it.
Any way you look at it, someone has to do it, and I’m glad it’s me.
Lissa Walker, food and restaurant copywriter, lives and works in Los Angeles. Clients include: The Cheesecake Factory, Green Giant, Nabisco, Starkist, and Whole Foods. lissa@walkercopywriting.com
Growing up surrounded by freezers full of my father’s chocolate samples, you would think I would tire of candy. You would think anything that ubiquitous would become meaningless. You would think.
However, life at our house was not just about the candy.
It was about the food.
No matter how much there was, or how much we talked about it, no one in my family ever tired of the food.
From my sister’s trips to the health food store for freshly squeezed, raw, organic juices; to family discussions about the superiority of Nova versus other smoked salmon; to my father, daily asking my mother “Are you making something good for dinner?” to which my mother would reply “No, I’m making something bad,” buying, selling, cooking, eating, talking and worrying about food was Job 1.
Dieting was Job 2.
Endlessly on the search for the perfect health and weight-loss diet, I learned the benefits and drawbacks of just about every type of cuisine, calorie, carb, fat and protein count – not to mention food combining.
Kombucha? I can tell you its probiotic properties.
Carrot juice? High in sugar.
Yin and yang? Stay balanced between the two by living on brown rice.
I could have rebelled.
Instead, I have turned into a copywriter who specializes in food and restaurants.
There is nothing quite like finding that sweet copy spot, that little emotional word-nudge that makes the mouth water and the car drive to the grocery store at midnight.
Maybe it’s some sort of primordial need to feed.
Maybe it’s just fun.
Maybe I’m good at it.
Any way you look at it, someone has to do it, and I’m glad it’s me.
Lissa Walker, food and restaurant copywriter, lives and works in Los Angeles. Clients include: The Cheesecake Factory, Green Giant, Nabisco, Starkist, and Whole Foods. lissa@walkercopywriting.com