William Sitwell, the writer and food critic made famous by Masterchef, has quit as editor of Waitrose’s food magazine following the backlash against his response to a vegan journalist. When Selene Nelson wrote to Sitwell to pitch a series of ‘plant-based’ recipes, he replied with another idea: “How about a series on killing vegans, one by one. Ways to trap them? How to interrogate them properly? Expose their hypocrisy? Force-feed them meat? Make them eat steak and drink red wine?”. This spirited response – which, if nothing else, suggests some confusion about the ingredients of red wine – has now cost Sitwell his job.
For some it will come as no surprise – Sitwell is hardly the first person to have their career imperilled by a Twitter witch-hunt. Taking offence is now something of a competitive game and this seems to be only getting worse. Factor in the enthusiasm of big food retailers to capitalise on the increasingly lucrative vegan market and Sitwell probably never stood a chance. But as a struggling freelance journalist, there’s something that pains me about Sitwell’s departure.
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