In Our Spring 2019 Issue

Editor's Note plus all of the Spring 2019 Issue.
 

People make up the taste of a place. With their caravans of spices and pots and seeds and breads, people have always been the ones to flavor a nation. Just look at New York City. Why is it such a delicious destination? Because of the people who come from all over the world to live in and take a bite out of the Big Apple.

In my 10 years of editing Edible Columbus, I’ve learned so much about what this good-food movement stands for in Ohio and beyond. Lately, I’m convinced we’ve left a very important population out of the storytelling effort: the world. In 2015, 4.3% of Ohio’s population was comprised of foreign-born individuals. When my family came to the United States we were immigrants, too, from the shores of Ireland and Italy. Immigrants, offering foods from their native countries in wholesome, accessible and celebratory ways, run some of the best eateries in Central Ohio, and they find ways to include foods grown and harvested right here in Ohio (page 24).

Since it’s spring and time for rebirth and new ideas I’m proposing we take this year to redefine what this good-food movement is all about. While we’ve all put a lot of sweat and backbone into building up our local food system, we can do better. Ten years ago Columbus was a very different city. Read Kathleen Day’s essay (page 22) about her journey to opening Katalina’s and you’ll understand what I mean. We’ve grown.

Yet we can’t stop. With the 2018 Farm Bill, states now have an opportunity to grow industrial hemp. The implications of this potential crop could shift the landscape of farming, fiber and food production in the Midwest significantly (page 30). At the same time, young farmers are up against immense challenges in the face of what has increasingly become an unsustainable future, and we need to stand by them and salute them as they face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and determination (page 26).

I have so much gratitude for this community of artisans, leaders, makers, farmers, brewers, producers and growers. From day one this community has embraced the challenge of the good-food movement and welcomed me into conversations so I might tell the stories of this region for the purpose of growth and change.

I’ve had the pleasure of shaking your hands, talking to you about what you do, smiling and laughing together at the insanity of what we continue to do, trying to change the world through food. Thank you to every one of you who walks with me through the seasons with stories in our baskets for good keeping and light in our eyes to illuminate the beauty we have yet to experience. Thank you, Ohio, for this most delicious feast.

Eat Well, Love Well, Live Well, 
Colleen Leonardi

SPRING 2019 | CONTENTS