Editor's Letter Issue 27: Summer 2019
When I think of Idaho food, I remember the plot of water-poor earth in Hollister, Idaho, that my grandmother somehow managed to coax vegetables from. I remember the way cream from the cows I petted on my great-grandparents’ Sandpoint homestead would cling to the rims of milk pitchers. I can still taste the huckleberries I foraged from somewhere in that mass of land where Canada, Idaho and Washington meld into a giant swath of forested heaven and packed into my 7-year-old mouth.
Today, I marvel with friends at the discoveries of morel caches deep in our national forests and surprisingly close to our urban center along the Boise River. And I make a mean strata with vegetables passed over the fence from neighbors and eggs harvested from my friends’ micro farm in Garden City.
To know me is to know what I eat. And to know the food of Idaho is a way we can understand the people of Idaho.
Food tells our story. It connects us to the land, to each other and to our past, and it writes the narrative about the world we live in, what we value and who we are.
In this issue, we tell the story that is distinctly Idaho through our exploration of trout runs, lavender fields and wine vessels and the grit, determination and small acts of rebellion that bring food to our table. In these pages a narrative emerges about people fiercely dedicated to protecting the future by knowing the past. This narrative reminds us that if we want to make the world a better place, we should start by looking at what’s on our fork and honoring those who put it there—with celebration, patronage and a living wage.
Our writers explore the gritty, scrappy, rebellious side of food and wine. They remind us that markets are supported by people who act radically simply by choosing to buy locally, and they help us remember the relentless and even heroic pioneer women who dug their hands into some of Idaho’s most challenging plots of earth.
I’m excited to step up as Editor at Edible Idaho, where I’m proud to be a part of a magazine that offers intelligent, reliable reporting, smart commentary and some of the best insider tips on where to find quenchable summer drinks in McCall (because that’s where I’m heading after this issue hits newsstands). Consider our summer issue your travel guide to our great state and if you’d like to follow my spirited journey, check out Drew Dodson’s story. But I'm not stopping in McCall. Huckleberries and homestead in Sandpoint are calling my name.
