Issue 17, Fall 2020: From the Editors

Much of what we love about fall is overshadowed by the weight of disease hitting the state and country. As we go to press, school districts struggle to find new ways to teach safely. Seafood processing plants are experiencing coronavirus outbreaks reminiscent of those in Lower 48 meat packing plants, and communities around Alaska have reinstituted preventative mandates in the wake of COVID spikes. All this unfolds against a national backdrop fraught with animus and violence.

We’re relieved to still be in a position to bring you this magazine despite the close-to-home harm we felt alongside our community as the ripples reached us. Sending it to the printer feels like gaining the beach after a long swim with lead flippers. Our perseverance is possible because of the small businesses—themselves struggling—who stuck with us as advertising partners, and because of you, our readers who subscribe and support the magazine. Thank you.

Our “Larder, Pantry, Cellar” theme—chosen a year ago, at least—is apt in these weird times of hunkering, home-cooking, and making do. COVID exposed real cracks in transnational food systems that exploit animals as well as people, and it caused the masses—especially in places like Alaska—to learn and think about the supply chains that bring us the food we’re used to.

Inside, Jennifer Nu and Sarah Lewis present a radically different and ethical approach to meat eating, poignant and hopeful in the age of destructive factory farming. Lewis also provides a look at the root cellar—low-tech, high-reward—by way of two Interior families with homesteader sensibilities. We look at ways that foragers fill their larders with wild herb jelly and wormwood shortbread. And we consider the mushroom in the forest and on the plate.

In this time of masks and distance, the magazine connects us with stories of Alaskans across the state as we all gather, preserve, and store food to feed ourselves and loved ones during this perilous time, in this season, and through the winter. Your stories buoy us, too. Here’s a sweet one from a young reader. Stay safe, keep in touch, and take care of each other.