Meghan McCarron
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meghanmccarron.bsky.social
Meghan McCarron
@meghanmccarron.bsky.social
Freelance journalist covering food & culture. Work in NYT, Atlantic, Bon Appetit. Also a science fiction writer. Recent work in Lightspeed, Nebula & World Fantasy finalist. I live in Los Angeles.
Another thing that gets lost is that SNAP is one of our most successful social programs.

But the cuts to the program are so major, and hit so many different aspects, that those same experts are concerned it will be undermined, and worry what will happen when a recession hits
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The USDA historically refused SNAP restrictions from states. Now a dozen have been approve. While reporting this, I tried to figure out what granola bars I could buy that did contain flour, and it was pretty confusing
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
For families especially, SNAP benefits often don’t stretch to the end of the month. 80% of benefits are spent in the first 2 weeks, and there are many reports, like this, of parents skipping meals to keep their kids fed
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Some kind words about my story "The Lord of Mars" from Rachel Khong's wonderful newsletter about short fiction rachelkhong.substack.com/p/cold-by-as...
September 16, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Love to sweat my ass off in the blistering sun walking to Trader Joe’s and then encounter this
September 7, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Also spotted outside Kinokuniya
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I don't know who needs to hear this but the Mar Vista Kinokuniya has lots of 2026 Hobonichi planners
September 4, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Update from the family chat
May 8, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Shot / chaser (or should that be spritz / espresso martini?) www.bloomberg.com/news/article... www.thecut.com/article/nyc-...
May 5, 2025 at 11:12 PM
there has been a lot of good reporting on this, too www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/m...
May 5, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Throw in the pandemic, runaway restaurant inflation, and the growing popularity of takeout and delivery, and the deck is stacked against an enormous, value-centric dining room. But they've been around so long, to lose them is to lose something essential to civic life
April 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Some researchers even believe our tastes shifted away from loaded potato skins and toward, say, a burrito bowl of responsibly-raised beef because of this same shift in class dynamics
April 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
But these chains, custom-built to serve the middle class, faltered at the same time the fortunes of many middle class Americans did, most notably in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis
April 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Their success took even industry experts by surprise. And they appear to have pushed out local, independently owned restaurants.
April 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
In the 1980s and 90s, sit-down chains like TGI Fridays and Olive Garden and Pizza Hut were at the top of the heap. And they offered affordable, regular nights out to a broad swath of Americans.
April 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
My working title, my inner monologue: Why No Egg??? www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/d...
February 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Took me a minute but I got there. The IATSE sticker really seals it
December 4, 2024 at 3:46 AM
Went to a gym in Tulsa with an extremely specific aesthetic (complimentary)
November 23, 2024 at 8:26 PM
Had a dupe of the Erewhon coconut cloud smoothie in South Dakota yesterday
November 22, 2024 at 2:57 PM
Haven't seen this one before
November 22, 2024 at 4:06 AM
Can’t emphasize enough that this is about a smoothie
November 20, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Her embrace of cooking, and just, like, eating cake like a normal person is especially wild considering the history of women candidates and food
October 29, 2024 at 9:05 PM
So many talented cooks are kept out of the formal food economy because they lack capital. Even food trucks have gotten expensive.

This program can also help provide better food options directly in neighborhoods — the cooks I spoke to often spend hours prepping their meals from scratch
October 28, 2024 at 5:44 PM
pomodoro undefeated
October 25, 2024 at 6:11 PM
Another Los Angeles micro season has arrived: the local surplus store put up their “Burning Man Supplies” sign
July 28, 2023 at 8:00 PM