About Lorena Fernández Abdo
Food Writer • Journalist • Cultural Investigator
At a Glance
- Weekly food columnist at El Comercio.
- Author of Eating Malawi.
- Bilingual journalist in English and Spanish.
- Reporting across four continents.
- First-place awards from SPJ, ICPA, and the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspapers.
Lorena Fernández Abdo is a writer, journalist and investigator specializing in the ways food reflects the culture, history and identity of a people. She has lived in six countries across four continents, continuously expanding her understanding of how food is shaped by geography, agriculture, history, and tradition before it reaches the family table.
Food is the lens through which she explores broader questions of culture, identity, memory, and belonging. She is endlessly interested in the everyday rituals surrounding food and the ways families and communities transmit values, histories, and traditions through what they grow, prepare, and share.
Her reporting and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and news agencies in both English and Spanish. Throughout her career, she has reported on topics ranging from local government and sports to culture, food, and international affairs, writing for audiences across the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Her work has appeared in publications including L.A. Independent, El Comercio, Africa Confidential, News Africa, EFE, and Ñan. Some of her favorite stories can be perused in her portfolio.
Her most ambitious project thus far involved nearly a year of independent travel throughout Malawi, conducting field research, interviewing families, documenting food traditions, and examining the social and agricultural forces that shape everyday diets in a country known for malnutrition. The resulting book, Eating Malawi, offers a unique exploration of the country’s culinary traditions, ingredients, and food culture, while also examining the broader social and historical context in which they exist.
Her reporting is grounded in firsthand observation, field research, and cultural immersion. Whether documenting food traditions in rural communities, examining agricultural practices, or exploring the relationship between food and identity, she approaches food as both a cultural expression and a lens through which broader social realities can be understood.
Her writing received multiple first-place awards from the Indiana Collegiate Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspapers. When leaving her first journalist job in West Hollywood, California, the city awarded her a recognition for her services as a local reporter.
She currently resides in her hometown of Quito, Ecuador, where she writes a weekly column on food-related topics for the national newspaper El Comercio. Returning to Ecuador has allowed her to focus her reporting on the country’s regional cuisines, food traditions, and cultural identities. She is currently engaged in a long-term project documenting foods and traditions across Ecuador’s diverse regions and communities.
Her interest in food has also extended into education. She taught Food & Nutrition in Kenya and England, experiences that provided further insight into the ways different societies transmit culinary knowledge, cultural values, and beliefs about food to younger generations.
Work with me
Available for:
- Journalism commissions
- Long-form reporting
- Editorial collaborations
- Speaking engagements
- Research projects
