All Together Now
Months ago, this issue was conceived as a joyful collaboration—a chance for three magazines that already share readers, subjects, and philosophy to unite in one fantastic celebration of New York State’s land, food, drink, and farms.
Obviously—that was a lifetime ago.
By March, we were watching in terror as everything we had taken for granted abruptly changed. But, as tragic as the past month has been for New York State, our food community has stood up. Almost immediately, our restaurants and other small businesses responded to the crisis, establishing GoFundMe campaigns to support their suddenly out-of-work workers. Restaurateurs collectivized to form muscular political groups: the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) and Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants (ROAR), just to name two.
Read our ‘Dreaming of Travel’ issue here.
In ad hoc alliances, restaurants raided their walk-ins to feed the suddenly jobless. In the Hudson Valley, formerly competitive chefs banded together to form Million Gallons, an entity devoted to making soup for unemployed hospitality workers. Some restaurateurs reversed course to keep their staff working by any means necessary. On the Line—started by a team that, pre-COVID-19, had been serving $3 oysters and $90 côtes de boeuf—kept its kitchen working by raising donations to cook simple, nutritious meals for food-insecure populations.
As we have done before and will do again, neighbors banded together to help neighbors. Even as we isolate ourselves, our community remains unbreakable.
OK, so—the unqualified joy that started this collaborative issue may have waned, but the emotion that we feel now is resolve. Restaurants, farms, artisanal food and drink makers, and our other beloved local businesses are the reason our publications exist. Our job, now more than ever, is to shout our pride from the rooftops. Whenever we can, wherever we can, shop small, shop local, pay it forward, and stay safe.
—All of us at Edible Hudson Valley, Edible Westchester & Edible Manhattan
