COM•MU•NION (noun): an act or instance of sharing; intimate fellowship or rapport.
Related words: accord, agreement, concord, harmony, oneness, solidarity, togetherness, unity, affinity, empathy, sympathy, understanding, amity, chumminess, companionship, friendliness, friendship, reciprocity and symbiosis
—MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY
In a world that all too oft en these days seems to have gone mad, I seek and find great solace, and moments of joy, in communion with like-minded souls. This “chumminess” is oft en accompanied by delicious food and drink, natch.
But not all food and drink is created equal. Would the same communal good vibes emanate from a shared meal of mass-produced “hot chicken” sandwiches, made with the meat from chickens raised under horrific stress on a factory farm, produced by workers very likely earning less than a living wage, trucked across the country to be served by other likely underpaid workers at a chain fast-food outlet and eaten from containers bound for the landfill? I daresay not.
Food matters. How it is produced; who grows, harvests, forages, ranches, fishes, craft s, prepares and serves it; the livelihood the production and sharing of it provide to those people; the effect its production has on the environment; how the unconsumed portions of it are repurposed, or disposed of; the memories it holds of our ancestors, binding us to them and our current community; not to mention the profound effect it has on our physical bodies.
By all rights, a print (and online) magazine that tells the stories of local food and drink producers could be considered a very niche publication, compelling reading mainly to a dedicated few. But as affirmed at the annual gathering of Edible publishers this past January, the nearly 100-strong family of Edible Communities magazines is thriving across the U.S. (as well as three in Canada!).
As Edible Marin & Wine Country nears the publication of our 11th anniversary issue this summer, I am feeling especially grateful to be a member of that community, and of the community of like-minded souls here in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties who understand the power of food, well beyond fueling our bodies. Those who consciously produce it, and those who consciously consume it—we are all in this together.
I invite you to whip up a batch of homemade vermouth, Nissa Pierson’s recipes for which you will find in this issue, then savor the rest of the magazine while sipping on her thoroughly modern take on this ancient libation, or perhaps invite a few friends over to share a toast to the arrival of spring, in communion.
