In Our Spring 2020 Issue

Dear Reader,

We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you! In January of this year Edible Rhody was honored at the Edible Communities Annual Meeting with a Best of Edible Award for a piece by two of our regular contributors that was recognized as “an exemplary work of storytelling and composition.” Ours was one of four outstanding stories chosen from the 2019 issues of more than 75 independently owned, locally focused Edible magazines across the United States and Canada. The entries were reviewed and the winners chosen by a panel of nationally renowned authors, chefs, food advocates and radio personalities, including Barry Estabrook, Deborah Madison, Mark Winne and Cheryl Alters Jamison.

Here’s what was written about our award-winning story:

“Writer Helena Touhey received a Best of Edible Award for her insightful look at immigrant labor within the restaurant industry in ‘Cooking Up the American Dream,’ published in Edible Rhody. Through a series of vignettes that showcase the personal experiences of various restaurant workers and chefs, Touhey dances through a provocative political issue with a beautifully written story that humanizes immigration issues, drawing sharp parallels between consumer demand for restaurant dining and the food and beverage industry’s labor gap currently filled, in large measure, by immigrant labor. Photography by Chip Riegel celebrates the hard-won success of immigrants in U.S. kitchens.”

Publisher John Schenck and I are incredibly proud of our hardworking team who devoted their time, effort and talents to help us produce this important piece. Moreover, we are so grateful to the individuals who shared their insightful and inspiring stories with us in order that Edible Rhody could explore issues surrounding immigration through a more personal narrative from within our food community.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read “Cooking Up the American Dream,” Helena Touhey’s article and Chip Riegel’s photos can be found here.

Here in our Spring 2020 issue we’re also celebrating with another group of winners—our 2020 Local Heroes, voted on by our readers for their outstanding work in our local food community. Meet them on our home page. 

We hope you enjoy all the stories, recipes and photos in our Spring issue and that you find many delicious flavors and edible adventures throughout this season of rebirth and renewal.