This is the 49th edition of Edible Ohio Valley, the last issue of our 12th year. It’s kind of hard to get our heads around, honestly. I suppose that’s in part due to the fact that 2020 was sort of a “lost” year and any plans to celebrate the magazine’s 10th anniversary that we’d been foolish enough to make in advance sort of went out the window. That feels like a long time ago.

What I’m getting to here is that the magazine has matured as those years have passed. And you may have noticed that growth in our content. For many years, we used these pages to introduce folks to farmers, market growers, and food artisans—good people and great stories, all. I think that EOV has evolved alongside the local food movement, and there are new kinds of stories that feel urgent for us to share. Stories not just of the people involved in the birth of a local food movement, but of the movement’s deeper importance and of the issues and challenges that face those who work in it.

We’ve lately shared stories of how the regional meat-production system works and why locally raised meat is both better and more costly than mass-scale product. Stories of how food affects our physical and mental wellbeing. Of the headaches the entire local food community faces regarding supply chains and staffing.

In this issue, contributor Hannah Purnell introduces us to a handful of hospitality industry veterans who are taking on the persistent and pervasive issues of mental health and addiction. There’s a lot of hope and optimism in their stories, and our region’s restaurants and bars are better for the attention being paid.

At year’s end, we feel so grateful to be able to share these stories with you. We feel supported by our advertising partners and uplifted by the contributing writers, photographers, and illustrators whose work graces our pages. And we’re thankful for you, our readers. From all of us at Edible Ohio Valley, best wishes for a bountiful and delicious new year.

In This Issue

Notables: Alcove by MadTree, Cincinnati, Ohio / Civic Garden Center, Cincinnati, Ohio / Piqua Seed Library, Piqua, Ohio / Rains + Sun Hilltop Farm, Independence, Kentucky / Edible Reads by Bryn Mooth: Cookies, Grannies, Sweets
Features: Embracing Sourdough by Bryn Mooth & Andrew Fisher / Drink Your Garden by Cedric Rose / To Market, To Market by Polly Campbell / Sober & Healthy by Hannah Purnell / Follow Your Gut by Jennifer Kramer-Wine & Julie Francis
Last word: Ricardo Grant by Bryn Mooth & Michael Wilson
On the cover: Sourdough baking with Good Hands Bread Co. Photography by Julie Kramer

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