When we are preparing our slate of stories for a given issue, we act with intention. We endeavor to cover a broad range of food and sustainability topics and to select stories that offer coverage of as much of western Connecticut’s large geographic area as possible. When we have a unified theme for an issue, such as with fall’s brewery issue, we actively seek out experts in the field to ensure we’re offering the best take on that subject.
Therefore, it was an atypical experience for me to have this issue’s theme, highlighting the women of Connecticut’s sustainable food trade, come together somewhat unintentionally. As I considered our story options, I realized that we had a remarkable selection of articles both by and about women that were “ready to go,” and so the issue defined itself. This, I find indicative of a greater truth: throughout our state, women are both an industrial and creative force, the weight of which proceeds with or without the guidance or approval of anyone.
This issue features women from across the spectrum of Connecticut’s food industry. Farmers, like Patti Popp and Rachel Precious, tell their stories about doing the unexpected in a field traditionally dominated by men…and succeeding. Author Anna Gass collects the recipes of immigrant women, helping to preserve the cultural histories and identities that are intertwined with them, including her own. We explore New Haven’s Sanctuary Kitchen, which works to build enterprise, refuge, and community for and by immigrant women, through the ancestral cuisine that has emigrated with them. Lori Cochran-Dougall, executive director of the Westport Farmers’ Market, reveals how our state’s food community assisted her, and how she now endeavors to assist it. And we remember Margaret Rudkin, Fairfield resident and founder of Pepperidge Farm, who established a baked goods empire in a time when women were expected to keep their aspirations confined to their home kitchen.
This small group of women are representative of a much larger whole, and this issue’s stories scratch only the surface of the entrepreneurial and community-based efforts that women are engaging in across the state. We could dedicate all of our issues to Connecticut’s extraordinary and accomplished females, and well past my future retirement, there would be no scarcity of new tales to tell.
Dana Jackson, Editor & Publisher
Winter 2019 full digital edition flipbook
