[Writers, producers, stylists, and other workers on “Trisha’s
Southern Kitchen” and “The Kitchen” are forming a union with the
Writers Guild of America, East ]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

THE WORKERS BEHIND TWO POPULAR FOOD NETWORK SHOWS ARE UNIONIZING  
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Amy McCarthy
March 20, 2023
Eater
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_ Writers, producers, stylists, and other workers on “Trisha’s
Southern Kitchen” and “The Kitchen” are forming a union with the
Writers Guild of America, East _

BSTV Entertainment organizers say theirs is the first non -fiction
food television union. , Getty Images

 

Amid a years-long wave of unionization in the hospitality industry,
the workers behind two of Food Network’s most popular television
shows have formed a union. According to the Writers Guild of America,
East, an “overwhelming majority” of workers of BSTV Entertainment,
the studio that produces !e Kitchen and Trisha’s Southern Kitchen,
have signed cards to form what organizers say is the "first
non-fiction food television union.

 Elias Holtz, a coordinating producer at BSTV, tells Eater that the
decision to form a union came after three intense years of producing
The Kitchen, a food- centric talk show hosted by Sunny Anderson and
Jeff Mauro, and Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, the cooking show helmed
by country star Trisha Yearwood. Holtz says that many of the show’s
workers were converted from full-time status to freelance work in
2020, at the onset of the pandemic, which meant that BSTV was no
longer required by law to offer them health insurance.

“It was very difficult, and since then, our conditions have gotten
worse,” Holtz says. “We’ve lost our health care, we’ve lost
our job security, and our issues are really industry-wide across
non-fiction television and food television.” Eater has reached out
to BSTV for comment on the unionization effort, but has not received a
response.

Though scripted television is a highly unionized industry, non-fiction
shows like Trisha’s Southern Kitchen and The Kitchen have not had
those same protections. A 2020 poll of workers in the industry found
that more than 80 percent of those who worked in non-fiction
television lacked health insurance, and a vast majority reported
working overtime without pay. Holtz hopes that unionizing at BSTV will
help inspire union eorts at other food TV shows and throughout
non-fiction TV. “We’re part of a largely unorganized sector in
television, so we hope that we’re providing an example and can work
with people at other shows to continue this trend.”

Holtz points out that writers, producers, stylists, and other workers
on food shows are bringing highly specialized skills to the table, and
deserve to be compensated for that work. In addition to producing the
television show, they also have to be culinary experts. “Making sure
that the food is all prepared, looks really good, and comes out on
time in the midst of a really tight schedule requires a lot of hard
work and skillful preparation,” they said. “And a lot of people
who work in the culinary production realm are really undervalued and
underpaid, even though their labor is super-skilled, and very
valuable.”

That labor has also made television studios and networks a lot of
money as food TV shows of all kinds have grown in popularity. But
despite the increased demand, Holtz says that workers haven’t been
compensated adequately. “The demand for food content has exploded
over the last 10 years, and it’s become really profitable. But we
haven’t seen the treatment of the skilled workers who make that
content get better as their skills have become more valuable,” Holtz
says. “It’s no coincidence that culinary workers are being
undervalued when you look at the fact that the majority of them are
women, people of color, and young people.”

In the coming months, the union plans to fight for fair pay, and pay
transparency so that they can ensure all their members are being paid
fairly. “BSTV has used individual salary negotiations to under-
compensate our expertise and pit us against one another,” the union
wrote in a letter delivered to management last week. “As a union, we
stand in solidarity with the lowest paid workers, who include women of
color, to demand fair rate minimums for all.”

Disclosure: Vox Media’s editorial team, which includes Eater, is
also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.

 

* unionizing
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* Culinary Workers
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