A recent article in Time stops short of waving adieu to restaurant critics in a piece titled “In praise of the endangered food critic.” Long gone are the days of “big-ticket, fine-dining restaurants” states the article, which also lays blame on the growing blogosphere, where more and more consumers rely on sites like Yelp — whereby average people write restaurant reviews — to make dining decisions.

So, if food critics are at danger, how are food sections faring?

Larger papers’ expense accounts have shrunken. And smaller papers already face declining budgets, which typically result in downsizing of coverage. Ed Levine, a New York-based food writer and blogger and a frequent New York Times contributor, said that food sections are often not taken as seriously as other parts of the newspaper, so food writers are typically the first to go when faced with budget cuts.

Yet, consumer awareness in food is at an all-time high. Joe Yonan, food editor for The Washington Post, says there’s never been a more interesting time to cover food because of people’s increased interest in all things food. He says that because of issues like the local food movement, sustainability, nutrition and consumers’ increasing exposure to different types of foods, the food section is now more relevant than ever, making it an invaluable resource to readers.

“The source of the information is just as important as it always has been,” said Yonan.

A 2006 Gallup/Robinson study on newspaper food section behavior found consumers rank food sections as the single-most useful source for food shopping and information compared to food websites, food television shows and food magazines.

And while the study found that nine out of 10 readers use recipes and food suggestions from the food section and 65 percent always look at the food section before shopping, any food page worth its salt goes beyond recipes and shopping tips to take a broader look at food issues.

There has been a great evolution in food coverage to meet consumers’ interest. For example, since Yonan took charge of The Post’s food section three years ago, he has added coverage of food culture and food politics and the way the two are impacting peoples’ lives.

Yonan said his readership has remained strong. He attributes staying relevant and The Post’s use of new formats. “The key has been meeting where people want to get their information.” The Washington Post food section has 6,000 followers on Twitter, an iPhone app and was doing live weekly online chats before most other large newspapers.

As for the disappearance of the food critic, Yonan said, not on his watch. In fact, he has used The Post food section to position food critic Tom Sietsema in new forums outside of the traditional food page, including his own weekly online chat and his highly popular video series called “TV Dinners.”

Yonan argues that food critics are just as important as ever and maybe even more so in light of the growing blogosphere where everyone has an opinion. “People appreciate Yelp, but they also take it with a grain of salt,” he said. “Consumers still want to know the source of their information and they want it to be authoritative.”

“There’s no substitute for well-researched and well-written information,” continued Yonan. “And that will see food critics and food sections into the future.”

Determined to transform the way students eat, Chef Jamie Oliver’s campaign to improve school lunches began in 2004 at one school in southeast London, bringing public attention to the massive amounts of processed foods being served to children. The British government responded by pledging a total of 650 million British pounds (or nearly U.S. $1 billion) to improve school menus and train school catering staffs.

In 2009, Oliver’s crusade came to the United States through his latest television series, “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” which aired Friday nights on ABC. Like the food Oliver found in the UK, the American diet of processed food contributes to the obesity problem.

In the U.S., Oliver began his journey in Huntington, W.Va, ranked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the unhealthiest city in America. It’s not surprising when you watch the show and see that in Huntington schools, French fries are considered a vegetable and pizza is an acceptable breakfast food. Oliver’s food and healthy eating philosophy is essentially about achieving a sense of balance: lots of the fresh food, loads of variety and the odd indulgence every now and then.

“This food revolution is about changing the way we eat. We need to start cooking again, to make sure our children don’t grow up on a diet of processed food, at school or at home, and so they won’t have to battle obesity and diet-related illnesses when they grow up. America needs to do something now, before it’s too late,” Oliver said.

Oliver isn’t the only person trying to bring awareness to the poor quality of what American children eat at school. In her blog, “Fed Up With School Lunch,” Mrs. Q — the pen name of an Illinois teacher — is eating the lunches served in her school’s cafeteria every day of 2010 and blogging about it. Mrs. Q is not a chef or a nutritionist, just a mother and a teacher concerned for the health of children. Guest bloggers, including other mothers and teachers, concerned students and some in the school food industry, also contribute regularly.

On April 9, Mrs. Q blogged that when Jamie Oliver changed school lunches in the UK, absences went down. Students who eat healthier are sick less frequently, and schools get funding based on average daily attendance, making more money for the schools a side benefit of healthy school lunches.

Sales of supermarket bakery cookies remain strong, according to a review conducted by the Perishables Group FreshFacts. Time-starved shoppers continue to turn to store bakery cookies out of convenience and because many schools now prohibits home-baked goods in the classroom. Cookies captured just under 10 percent of total supermarket bakery department sales nationwide over a one-year period.

58
Within the cookie category, percent of bakery department dollar share attributed to “everyday” cookies.

16
Within the cookie category, percent of bakery department dollar share attributed to iced cookies.

7
Within the cookie category, percent of bakery department dollar share attributed to specialty cookies.

5
Within the cookie category, percent of bakery department dollar share attributed to “message” cookies.

<4
Within the cookie category, percent of bakery department dollar share attributed to mini and filled cookies and doughs/mixes.

$1,570
Average retail value of cookies sold during the peak week of the year at supermarkets surveyed (week of Dec. 20, 2009).