A Letter from the Editor.
When we launched Made Local Magazine in 2013, people constantly asked how we could possibly find enough stories to fill these pages every other month. As we begin our third year of publication, we wonder how we can possibly keep up with the wealth of stories all around us, just waiting to be told.
We’re fortunate to live in a unique place at a unique time. Being able to reflect the rising interest of the local agriculturalists, artisans, producers, growers, and technologists around us isn’t just an honor—it’s also a lot of fun. As Sonoma County increasingly takes the lead in showing the rest of the country what can be done when you have a citizenry devoted to reclaiming their food system from large corporations, we’re glad to be here to help document this change.
Just a generation ago, truck farms ringed most cities, providing local food to the markets. Everyone had a garden and no one talked about it because it was literally unremarkable. If you lived far from water, you didn’t eat fish; if it was January, you didn’t have fresh tomatoes. Today’s abundance was unthinkable. It’s also unsustainable.
What is sustainable is what we can grow here, what we can make here, and how we can support each other here. In this place, at this time, together. Telling our stories and sharing our ideas. Made Local is so glad to be a part of it.
~Gretchen Giles, Editor