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'Edible Milwaukee' Makes Case for Food’s Ability to Bring Community Together

S Bence
Edible Milwaukee's Jen Ede

In the spring of 2013, Milwaukee joined some 70 cities around the U.S. and Canada  that tout local “Edible” publications. They’re part of an “Edible Communities, Inc.” movement – grounded in a mission they describe as transforming the way people shop for, cook and eat local food.

Lake Effect’s Susan Bence sat down with Edible Milwaukeepublisher and editor Jen Ede at a Walker’s Point café.

“Food really is a unifier. It’s the beginning of a conversation and it’s the easiest way for one person to connect with the other on a neutral plane,” Ede says.

In its first two years, the magazine has grown from a 44-page quarterly publication to 52 pages, and distribution grew from 10,000 to 17,500.

Ede also brought on an editorial and marketing assistant. She says plans are afoot for more growth in the coming year.

Not only does Ede want to increase its readership, she’s working on a membership idea. “We want to take the readers beyond the magazine. We want them to read the content and then go to physically be in the spaces of our community partners and the places we profile and get to know them,” Ede says.

She calls the initiative Edible Milwaukee’s next frontier.

Susan is WUWM's environmental reporter.<br/>