Edible Again

The first issue of Edible San Diego appeared in local farmers’ markets in the spring of 2008. As soon as I saw a copy, I subscribed, and the issues that arrived in my mailbox every few months never disappointed me. From them I learned about the La Jolla butcher shop selling beef raised on Palomar Mountain, I discovered where to buy locally harvested sea urchin roe, and I read how Curtis Womach had begun raising grass-fed chickens in Julian, among other things.

But in the Summer 2009 issue there was bad news too: an announcement that it would be the last one published by the existing owners.  A visit to the website revealed that a new publisher was being sought.

Happily one has now stepped up to the plate, though when I caught Riley Davenport on the phone, she sounded a bit startled that it was her. “I kind of went in on a wish and a prayer,” she said. A native San Diegan who grew up in Point Loma and still lives there, she’d been interested in healthy food “forever,” she told me. And she’d devoured Michael Pollan’s locavore masterpiece, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. But she’d never been immersed in the San Diego food community and wasn’t even aware that Edible San Diego existed until she and her daughter chanced upon it at the Sea Rocket Bistro this past June.  She read that issue with growing excitement — only to be “crushed” when she came upon the note about the magazine’s  imminent end.

Almost immediately, Davenport and her husband John Vawter, began talking about taking over the publishing role. Although Vawter is an immigration attorney, Davenport had worked as graphic designer for two dozen years, and she was feeling ready for a career shift. The couple talked to Jeff and Mary Willis, the Fallbrook-based retired Marine lieutenant colonels who had started the San Diego offering as part of the Edible Communities network of local food publications. Davenport says the Willises still seemed committed to the cause of local food, but both had received offers of consulting contracts for the Marines, and other family commitments were also demanding their attention. Davenport was still pondering the decision when she got a call informing her that another potential buyer had materialized. Rather than lose the opportunity, she says she borrowed some money from her parents and took the plunge. (She bought the publishing rights from Edible Communities, which then reimbursed the Willises.)

Now “we’re scurrying and scuttling to try to make this work,” Davenport declared. While Vawter will continue his legal practice, Davenport quit her graphic-design job and plans initially to continue Edible San Diego‘s quarterly publication schedule. If she sells enough advertising, she’ll put out her first issue in January, but if not it will be in March, with free distribution planned not only for local farmer’s markets but also for other outlets such as hotels, coffee shops, and libraries. (It costs $32 to get a year’s worth of issues in the mail.)

Davenport eventually hopes to expand the magazine, and she’s got plenty of ideas for articles.  (For one thing, she’ll be receiving copies of the Edible publications in more than 60 other communities as part of her involvement with Edible Communities.) She says friends have questioned why she would get involved with magazine publishing at a time with print appears to be dying. But she rejects that notion.  “I think certain kinds of print are doing well…. People want things that pertain to them and are about their community. We’ve been out of touch with our communities, and we’re hungry for that. So this type of publication is actually growing.”