Meal Train

Meal Train

MEAL TRAIN is a risograph periodical about sharing food, nourishment and friendship. It is a printed newsletter that celebrates the intersection between what we put on our tables, how we feed our minds, and who we gather with. 

The series is produced in a riso booklet format featuring both text and images. BearBear will publish the first issue in Fall 2026, featuring work by Ben Grzenia in collaboration with contributors across the known universe.

ROLLING OPEN CALL
Content for our first issue has closed. We're accepting new submissions on a rolling basis for future issues.

RECURRING COLUMNS

  • Story Time: Share a food memory :-) rooted in time / place / community
  • Restaurant Graveyard: Tell us about a place you miss eating at.
  • Canned Good Review: Review tinned fish / soup / tell us about something that you canned
  • Reading Recs: Books on food, travel, or cooking you discovered or love (or hate to love!)
  • List: Grocery list, packing list, etc. Anything you want to list.

ALSO SEEKING

Longer-format interviews, discussions, artwork, photo journals, cooking playlists, or analysis around the topics of food, how it intersects with home life and people. Here are some specific examples:

  • Tips on meal sharing, whether at home or sending food to others.
  • Frugal cooking tips and other food cheats?
  • What are your underrated grocery items? Hot takes?
  • How to make hosting a meal easier?
  • Organizations/projects that help with bringing food to tables - can be regional!
  • Seasonal ideas, meal planning for Summer!
  • Family recipes
  • My Snacky Place - a photo of a scenic location where you love to picnic/dine/snack
  • Best under-10minute prep meals (for people with young kids or who run a tight ship)

WHO SHOULD SUBMIT?
We encourage artists, home cooks, professional food-makers, farmers, growers, writers, foodies, snackers, gourmands, sandwich afficionados, soup slurpers, and all gastro-curious folks to contribute (we may have missed a few). We are particularly interested in how art, food, and culture intersect, according to you. We hope that those who feel that they are underserved by mainstream publishing platforms send work in. Work will be selected and printed according to editorial guidelines at the time. Thank you.

HOW TO SUBMIT
Email heybearbear@gmail.com. If the images are too large, please send files through WeTransfer or a Google Drive link. Include in your email how you want to be credited. e.g. Ben Grzenia or B.G. etc.

 

Back to blog