Jack Monroe #169 Please don’t argue about turnips

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Lanie

Isn't it trendy at the minute. Lots of my sheepie friends have gone all green fingered.

I am just waiting for them to get bored like all of the other trendy things they have done.

My parents are avid gardeners, I have little interest but have been shown how to tend a garden, if I ever chose to do so. I don't feel the need to tell the world though.
 
Reactions: 27

Captainmouse

Naaah she’ll get bored long before then, like her knitting
 
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MaineCoonMama

Wow, I take 24 hours off and I come back to Jolly Jack friend of pigeons wearing a leotard.

Did I miss anything else?
 
Reactions: 41

Mr Krabs

I'm surprised she's not already done environmental plastic-free Jack, since she loves buying overpriced jars and doing stupid shit like using leftover carrot peels. Plus she could spunk loads of money on posh reusable stuff that's never seen again and it gives her an excuse to shop in Waitrose where they have those refill stations with orzo and quinoa. Also, if anyone laughs at her slop, she can be like "this tunip top pie is zero waste so you can't be mean about it".

She's already got the nails of a professional gardener, so bring it on Jack.
 
Reactions: 39

Flibbertigibbet

It's really not a sheepie pursuit - you have to work and wait years for it to come together/look like it does on insta. It's also seasonal (sad that this has to be explained to some people) so the withered husks of flowering plants will look like a holy show come winter when the buzz has worn off.
 
Reactions: 35

colouredlines

There are many factors to her decline - no clear brand, prickly personality, endless drama, terrible TV presence and, above all, shit food.

But it's also worth looking at how her style of recipe writing has evolved.

This is from her early days at the Guardian:



...and this is from her blog now:



I apologise for the screenshot there - Jack's website is not optimised for mobile. But I think the problem is clear. She thinks of herself as a Writer with a capital W. She really, really isn't one. The result? Recipes that are essentially unreadable, as well as inedible.
 
Reactions: 72

Eurgh

‘The theory here is similar to that of Yorkshire puddings’

Not similar - the same. Your recipe is LITERALLY Yorkshire puddings with a tin of fruit cocktail.

ETA - her Yorkshires have mixed herbs in don’t they? That’s the difference. I take it all back!
 
Reactions: 46

HotesTilaire

60g of beetroot and 50g of lentils with half an onion and 25g of feta on some leaves?
Where’s the food????
 
Reactions: 50

Sunshine&clouds

Thanks for posting the first recipe. Though it kills me to say it, it sounds really nice!
 
Reactions: 16

colouredlines

Just to clarify: I do not endorse Jack's early recipe or encourage the eating of it in any way, shape or form. But at least you can read it.
 
Reactions: 42
S

Suffolkmum

We are her day job.
 
Reactions: 48

Veronicaaa

I'm so confused - do you put the juice in the fridge for a contrast between hot and cold, OR do you make a syrup from it? Answers on a (beige) postcard.
 
Reactions: 37

PoorPatrol

Guys! Guys! Not wanting to moderate the thread or anything, but I’m shocked that you didn’t put a comic filter on for Pidge’s safety.

So irresponsible. Look what happened to Terry the Sparrow. He die, I cry!
 
Reactions: 55

Mr Krabs

Without myself too much, my career involves a lot of writing and editing content. I often hire junior writers, fresh out of English or Journalism degrees, and gawd, their work is a lot like Jack's terrible Nigella impersonation. Also, a LOT of ridiculous flowery words, with no thought to the reader.I often have to remind people that fewer words are often better. They aren't writing a uni essay. Stop filling the page with bollocks to fill your word count.

Jack's brand is that she writes for people with little time or money, free copies to foodbanks etc. So why include cutesy anecdotes about your son? A lot of her writing is about her lazily making breakfast blah blah. That's completely off brand for people who are working six days a week on minimum wage. The original recipe style was actually fine and the sort of thing you could follow with little cooking experience.

I think she's also trying to copy the styles of these recipe blogs who absolutely babble on for an eternity about their trips to Italy or their grandma's kitchen, because they think it's good for SEO. That only really works if the page has useful information -- i.e. different cooking methods, wine pairings, freezing instructions or whatever. If people arrive at that wall of text they're going to immediately click back, which is going to tank your Google ranking.

Oh shit, look at all that crap I just wrote. I've caught Jackitis.
 
Reactions: 64
D

Debarkle

This is great! Love the data. Just to add - had a look a google ads keyword planner and this is what google provides re monthly searches.

take it with a pinch of salt - in my industry we’ve always found it underestimates predicted traffic. Sorry for the really crap picture quality.

ETA Another tool we use suggests her website gets 40k visitors a month via search and that the page she has dedicated to GFFBD gets <1% of the website traffic.
 
Reactions: 34

PoorPatrol

Vanelope said:
Heat the oil! She said HEAT THE OIL!
it isn’t her.
Click to expand...
What I don’t understand is, why she can relay a Yorkshire pudding recipe/method, but in the photographs of hers, they’re sad, flaccid looking husks. So does she copy the recipe from somewhere else but not actually do it?
 
Reactions: 29
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