In Our Spring 2015 Issue

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Nothing I Hate More Than Seeing Food Being Thrown Away

Dear Reader,

We made it. I say this first as a Wisconsinite, relieved at making it through a gray, seemingly-unending winter, grateful for spring. I say this secondly as a business owner, publishing a magazine that is just about to enter its third year.

Between our first and second years, we grew—in circulation, in page count, and in revenue—like we’d just been fed some miracle elixir. But really, there was no magic. There is no magic in this town, only hard work and mutual support. We had arrived to a community proud of its heritage and its artisanship. We found businesses, hopeful and invested in bettering our city in the long-term. The partners we approached at first didn’t know who we were, but when we explained what we wanted to do, they understood and backed us. Today, many of them are still with us, along with our advisors, contributors, friends, and supporters. Building a business up that can sustain itself long-term is a challenge, but beyond the products and services we offer, we live on through the legacy and culture we create. Success has many different definitions, but I often think of it in terms of the integrity with which I’ve tried to do business, and what I’ll leave behind. But for now, I’m looking forward.

The theme of the issue you’re about to read began as “Food Waste” but soon took on a life of its own. There is nothing I hate more than seeing food get thrown away. It’s difficult to address wastefulness, though, without looking deeper: what we eat is one aspect, but how do we treat our fellow humans? The neighborhood standing around us? The environment as a whole? The people, places, and things we focus on in our spring issue have re-imagined. Re-purposed. Reused. Re-vitalized. They have found value in making things last and in paying it forward for the coming generations.

Read on for stories on sprouts and vermiculture, blueprints gone green, invasives and humble plants transforming into haute cuisine. Move grass and grow food with a Victory Garden. Learn how to make your meals over and over again, so that “leftovers” are no longer a groan-inducing word. Render your own fat to save money. Inspire your family to reduce the amount of food finding its way into the garbage with a fun experiment, “Hodge Podge” pizzas, and more. Sit down with us at a Seder dinner, get to know a major issue facing our Wisconsin cheesemakers, and then, listen to how our friends at Walnut Way have taken a community, discarded and disregarded, breathing new life and giving hope to residents.

Remember what I said above about none of this being magic? Okay, maybe it is, just a little.

-Jen Ede, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

This publisher’s letter is dedicated to the memory of my great aunt, Dorothy Dauer, who inspired me, as a woman, not to be afraid to lead and speak my mind.