Editorial Standards
The Foods That Shaped Us is an independent food-history publication that explains how ingredients, dishes, and drinks shaped trade, migration, empire, preservation, agriculture, and cultural memory. Articles are researched and edited through a publication-led process, grounded in cited sources, and reviewed for historical context, source quality, and clarity.
Research Scope
We focus on food origins, agriculture, trade routes, fermentation, migration, preservation, empire, cultural memory, and the ways ingredients, dishes, and drinks shaped human societies. We avoid unrelated wellness claims, recipe filler, and trend coverage that does not strengthen food-history understanding.
Source and Citation Policy
Major historical claims should be supported by credible sources such as museum collections, university research, archaeological publications, botanical references, historical scholarship, official cultural institutions, and established food-history works. Article references are listed in a Sources & References section, and inline citation markers link to those sources when source data is available.
Article Update Policy
Article pages display published and updated dates. We refresh an updated date when a specific article receives meaningful editorial work, such as revised historical claims, improved references, better image accuracy, clearer headings, or stronger article-specific internal links.
Image Accuracy Policy
Food images should represent the article subject accurately. When a hero image is misleading, generic, reused for an unrelated food, or poorly described, we prioritize replacement with an accurate local, optimized image and descriptive alt text.
Corrections Process
We welcome corrections, source suggestions, and image accuracy notes. Corrections are reviewed against cited sources and historical context before publication. Send editorial feedback to hello@thefoodthatshapedus.com.
Author and Contributor Transparency
Legacy and collaboratively maintained articles use The Foods That Shaped Us Research Desk byline. The site is published and edited by Mehdi Iarab. Named people are credited only when they are real, consenting, and relevant to the page. We do not publish invented degrees, awards, headshots, external profiles, or unverifiable credentials. Reviewer credits are limited to the topic scope stated on the page. To propose a commissioned article or source-led case file, please review our Contributor Guidelines.
Read the profiles for The Foods That Shaped Us Research Desk, Mehdi Iarab, Amine Naini and Ahmed Baakli for current publication roles, credentials, and review scopes.
Professional Background Input
Some articles may include background input from people working in food, hospitality, agriculture, retail, marketing, supply chains, or cultural fields. Professional input may inform modern practice, industry context, usage, consumer behavior, hospitality, production, or distribution.
Professional input is not used as the sole support for historical dates, origin claims, archaeology, health or nutrition claims, scientific claims, or legal claims. If contributors request privacy, names are not published. Historical claims remain checked against cited public sources.
AI-Assisted Editorial Workflow
AI-assisted tools may support research organization, drafting, metadata, and editorial workflow. AI tools do not replace editorial responsibility. Historical claims about origins, dates, trade routes, cultural context, and evidence are reviewed against cited sources before publication.