Barfblog.com … one of the sickest (and funniest) sites about food safety
It doesn’t take long when talking to Dr. Doug Powell, founder of Barfblog.com, to find out that he’s got a sense of humor: “As you know, freedom of the press belongs to those who own one … and I own Barfblog, so there!”
After just a few years of publishing, his comically named internet journal, Barfblog.com, has drawn a good sized following -- approximately 10,000 people visit his site daily. His site boasts a half dozen highly educated correspondents, dedicated to improving public health by educating readers about the dangers of food-borne illnesses.
But what about that strange name … and some of the goofy stories he publishes?
“The humor makes it more relatable,” explains Michelle Mazur, a Barfblog.com contributor and a second-year veterinary student at Kansas State University, where Barfblog.com is based. “Humor is important. If you just put out abstracts every day it gets a little boring. Doug has a unique sense of humor, as do I, and so does everyone at Barfblog.com.”
“Marshall McLuhan [famed media theorist] said that those who try to distinguish between entertainment and education don’t know the first thing about either, and if I had an underlying philosophy that would be it,” Dr. Powell says. In the 1990s he worked as a journalist—the Canadian correspondent to Science and to a Canadian newspaper -- and he learned that, to hook a reader, sometimes you have to be a little silly. Most food handlers (restaurant workers, etc.) are under the age of 30, and young people don’t always think a lot about food
After just a few years of publishing, his comically named internet journal, Barfblog.com, has drawn a good sized following -- approximately 10,000 people visit his site daily. His site boasts a half dozen highly educated correspondents, dedicated to improving public health by educating readers about the dangers of food-borne illnesses.
But what about that strange name … and some of the goofy stories he publishes?
“The humor makes it more relatable,” explains Michelle Mazur, a Barfblog.com contributor and a second-year veterinary student at Kansas State University, where Barfblog.com is based. “Humor is important. If you just put out abstracts every day it gets a little boring. Doug has a unique sense of humor, as do I, and so does everyone at Barfblog.com.”
“Marshall McLuhan [famed media theorist] said that those who try to distinguish between entertainment and education don’t know the first thing about either, and if I had an underlying philosophy that would be it,” Dr. Powell says. In the 1990s he worked as a journalist—the Canadian correspondent to Science and to a Canadian newspaper -- and he learned that, to hook a reader, sometimes you have to be a little silly. Most food handlers (restaurant workers, etc.) are under the age of 30, and young people don’t always think a lot about food
safety, Dr. Powell explains. “They care what Britney is doing or what underwear Paris is wearing. My site may have some goofy celebrity stories just to get their attention, but you’ve got to hook them. I’m trying to make food safety accessible.”
Barfblog.com started out in 2005 when Dr. Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University, discovered that everyone—seatmates on airplanes, strangers on the street—wanted to tell him their “barf” stories. Initially, Barfblog.com was to be a safe place for people to kvetch about barfing.
Like all triumphant stories, there were rough waters early on. A rash of pornography spam quickly shut Barfblog.com down, and Dr. Powell took that opportunity to retool and turn it into a web-journal, where he could mix serious news and science with humor. The result is a blog where, for example, tips on how to cook a turkey is posted just above a South Park cartoon, which is just above a news report about an outbreak of salmonella in South Carolina.
While the site strives to be funny, Powell and Mazur emphasize that all the education is based on evidence-based information and scientific research. If they can get just one 20-something, fast-food fry chef to read about scientifically proven food safety techniques by luring him or her to the site with a story about Jack Black’s mystery barf … well, then Barfblog.com is doing its job.
Barfblog.com has won Dr. Powell attention; he recently appeared on The Dr. Oz Show to talk about food borne illnesses.
Dr. Powell explains that many Americans today do have concerns and questions about food safety, and Barfblog.com strives to provide answers. “I tell my correspondents to check their email every minute,” he said in a moment of seriousness.
“I’ve learned that there are ways we can improve food safety in this country,” Mazur added. “Those who produce must produce properly, and those that consume must consume properly.”
Mazur said she stumbled into her job after a food microbiology class she took as an undergrad at Kansas State. She started as a “news puller” for Barfblog.com and now she’s been writing for the blog for about a year, covering issues related to her veterinary-school studies like Brucellosis, her summer job on Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the dangers of salmonella on pet turtles, and even about therapy animals.
“The world has really opened up for me, writing for Barfblog.com,” she said. “Just pulling news for Doug for six months I learned so much. It exposed me to so much news, and it’s a great college job. I can start work at 4 a.m. after my studies.”
We think Barfblog.com is hilarious and highly recommend you check it out for all the fun and information it provides, but don’t forget to keep coming back to Keepourfoodsafe.org for news updates, food safety tips, articles on food safety legislation and more great links to other sites and sources of information.
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