Summer 2024

There are two things that routinely surprise me as we’re putting together an issue of Edible Ohio Valley: One is that we never seem to run out of compelling story ideas. Around the time of our 10th anniversary, I figured we’d wake up one morning to discover that we’d profiled all the farmers and covered all the locavore restaurants and written about all the gardening stuff. Instead, we’ve come to realize that there is no end to the good stories we can tell about our region’s food ecosystem. We’ve started looking farther afield to find bigger issues around access to healthy food, and challenges farmers face to making a living, and roadblocks we need to leap over as we build a more robust food system.

The second thing that constantly surprises me is that there’s always something to learn. Every issue is an opportunity for discovery. I’ll credit our contributing writers and photographers for that. I’ll be reviewing stories as they come in from our journalists and think, “Hm, I didn’t know about this cool thing,” or “Wow, I’d never thought of that before,” or “Ooh, I need to try this.”

This is our 15th year of publication and our 55th edition, and the surprises continue. I had no idea, for example, until Polly Campbell pitched the story, that Aiken High School offers classes as part of Cincinnati Public Schools’ Agriculture and Environmental Systems Career Pathway. And I was especially interested to know that Aiken’s program stems from an initiative to teach English to the school’s large population of immigrant students. Turns out, hands-on activities like caring for animals and planting a garden immerse students in language learning.

Until I spoke with local financial and tech leader Candice Matthews Brackeen, I didn’t recognize how difficult it is for food entrepreneurs to access what she calls “patient” capital. That is, money from investors who take the long view, who allow business owners time and space to grow and thrive and return those dollars.

And until I reviewed Chef Stephanie’s recipes for this summer season, I’d never thought to make tamales myself. I love these little stuffed pockets of goodness, and I know that they’re a production to make. I may just have to source some cornhusks and masa harina and make a batch of deeply flavorful mole this summer.

I hope this issue—and the coming season of local food bounty—introduce you to some new things, too.

– Bryn

Summer has arrived. Buy your copy today!