Growing Together
Supporting Edible Santa Barbara’s mission of local food appreciation and sustainability
As the owner, publisher and editor of Edible Santa Barbara, I wanted to take a moment to share a little more of our story with you—to give you a glimpse behind the scenes of what it takes to build and grow a mission-driven publication.
As many of you know (or maybe you don’t), our core mission is to promote local eating and drinking and to honor the invaluable contributions of our area’s farmers, ranchers, fishermen, food and beverage artisans, chefs, home cooks, vintners, brewers and the entire vibrant community that brings our meals to life.
We believe in the power of showcasing the stories and ingredients behind the food and wine that Santa Barbara County is known for—and that we love.
Sustainable living is at the heart of our ethos. But just as we are the champions of sustainable and regenerative agriculture, our magazine needs to be sustainable, too. As a free publication distributed throughout Santa Barbara County and mailed all over the country, Edible Santa Barbara relies on the support of our dedicated print advertisers. They are the backbone of our operation, enabling us to bring the magazine to you.
Their support allows us to cover the costs of producing each beautiful issue. Our writers tell stories that they are passionate about. We don’t trade editorial content for advertising dollars. So that you, our readers, can trust the businesses that we write about and the businesses that advertise with us. We know you read the ads as well as the articles, so it’s important to us that advertisers are a good fit for the magazine.
In order to continue, we could really use your support as well. How can you, as a reader, support our mission?
Well, many of you already are. You spread the word about the magazine. You tell advertisers that you saw their ad in our magazine. You thank them for being in the magazine when you visit their business to pick up a copy of the latest issue.
You email me and tell me how much you appreciate and enjoy reading Edible Santa Barbara (that definitely keeps me going when work is tough). You share or reply to a social media post (special thanks to writers Jill Johnson and Liz Dodder who create our content on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
And here are a couple more ways you can support the magazine and our mission.
If you haven’t already, please take our Reader Survey. Your feedback will play a crucial role in helping me shape the future of the magazine. It will take about 10 minutes, and your participation will be very valuable.
If you know of a business that would be a good fit for us, let them know that they can support the magazine (and gain valuable marketing exposure) by advertising. Perhaps you know the owner of your favorite restaurant or the manager of a local market.
Feel free to show them the magazine and even offer to connect them directly with me: krista@ediblesantabarbara.com.
Connections are vital in our community, and it’s a been a journey to get reconnected after the hard years of the pandemic. But through it all, I have been grateful for this community of Edible Santa Barbara readers and the entire community of Edible publishers.
We share so many common values. And it’s a tribute to Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian who founded Edible Ojai in 2002 that the community has grown and evolved to be the voice of local food throughout the United States and Canada.
In this newsletter we’ve often highlighted recipes from other Edible magazines and this will not be an exception. Here are some of my current favorites:
My Meyer lemon tree still has lemons! Maybe I need to make a batch of this Szechwan Peppercorn Basil Lemonade from Edible Indy.
I have a recipe for pozole that I’ve been making for years based off of one I found in a Martha Stewart cookbook. I’m quite partial to it, but after seeing this Hearty Green Pozole from Edible Ojai & Ventura, I might need to branch out. I love the idea of adding a local IPA.
I grew up in San Diego and I love reading Edible San Diego and seeing what my hometown is up to. This recipe for How to Pickle Japanese Cucumbers might come in handy, since I planted cucumbers in my vegetable garden.
Thank you for reading this newsletter. I really appreciate all of you who have subscribed and taken time each week to read and comment and like. If you’re not subscribed already, please consider subscribing. Our newsletter comes out once week on Thursdays. For more inspiration and tidbits, visit our website and follow us on social media.