EAOP Grad Edits Magazine on Food Issues

Three food activists have just launched a new quarterly magazine, called Local Banquet, to draw attention to the politics, economics, and cultural values around local food production and consumption in Vermont. Meg Lucas and Barbie Schreiber, who have attended extension workshops on Nonprofit Leadership sponsored by Antioch University New England's Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program (EAOP), are serving as publishers. They have hired Carrie Abels, a recent EAOP graduate, as the editor of the new magazine.

Carrie, a long-time newspaper journalist, became intenesly interested in food and agriculture issues during her master's work at Antioch University New England's EAOP. Indeed, Carrie met Meg and Barbie when she worked with them as an intern for the Genetic Engineering Action Group during her first year practicum project with the EAOP. She also did another EAOP internship on promoting local foods in the upper Conneticut River Valley.

In an Brattleboro Commons article about her new venture, Carrie explained how during her time in the EAOP, she "became more educated and slowly became more and more amazed about how gratifying it can be to buy locally and to know the people who grow your food: to actually shake their hand and thank them in person." She's also proud that each issue will have a "Seeds of Change" department that provides political and activist information on agriculture and food issues. She knows the power of conscious consumerism, but she also is aware of the strong role that citizen action for policy changes needs to play as well.

Carrie says inquiries from potential writers are very welcome. As she told the Brattleboro Commons, "We're looking for people who are passionate about the subject and have a unique perspective or personal experience they can share." You can write her at Caroline@localbanquet.com.