About Edible Cape Cod
Before Edible Cape Cod was first published in 2004, there was just one other Edible title in the country, Edible Ojai, started by Tracey Ryder and Carol Topalian in California. Earlier that year, there was an article about them in Saveur magazine. After receiving over 100 inquiries from that article, they came to Cape Cod to work with Doug and Dianne Langeland, taking photos, interviewing subjects and writing stories. Less than two months later, the Langelands held the first Edible Cape Cod in their hands, and we were fans as soon as we cracked into that issue.
At that time, the local food movement was limited to lobster, oysters, cod and cranberries and, there were few opportunities to buy local foods directly from the grower. There was only one farmers’ market and no CSA share programs to be found on Cape Cod.
Today there are farmers’ markets every day of the week in season on the Cape and a few winter markets as well. In addition to produce CSAs, you can buy pork, chicken, beef, lobster, oysters and finfish directly from the person who raised or caught it. Over the years, Edible Cape Cod has brought readers stories about everything from peaches to pawpaws, from razor clams to dogfish. In addition, readers learned how to harvest shellfish, grow garlic, make cheese, deep-sea fish, forage for mushrooms and pick blueberries. There were visits to breweries, wineries, coffee roasters, small-batch distilleries and artisanal juice makers. The pages of Edible Cape Cod have brought to readers so many interesting, colorful, fun, informative, generous people along the way who have been willing to share their stories and, sometimes, recipes with the readers. And the writers of these stories are often as talented and fascinating as their subjects.
Since 2004, this publication and its publishers have helped shape the local food movement on Cape Cod, and today this is more important than ever with so many Cape Codders making their living by bringing locally-cultivated food and beverages into the market.
As long time contributors Larry and Cori Egan take over at Edible Cape Cod at the start of a new decade, you have our assurance that we will continue the Edible Communities’ mission of “Celebrating the Abundance of Local Foods, Season by Season” with the stories that enlighten us about all those who make the local food movement stronger than ever here on Cape Cod. Check in frequently to meet our local growers, fishermen and food and beverage artisans. Go into the kitchens of restaurants and visit with the chefs who highlight local foods on their menus. And roll up your sleeves and try some tasty new recipes using seasonal produce.
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Our Regular Contributors
Karen B. Bento, writer / photographer
Karen B. Bento is a freelance writer and photographer, recipe developer, avid gardener, and School Library Teacher. When she is not making a mess in her kitchen, weeding her garden, or taking long walks, she can be found doodling in her journal with broken colored pencils. She can be reached at karenskindredspirit@gmail.com, or you can follow her on Instagram @karenskindredspirit.
Becca Miller, writer / photographer
Becca Miller lives in the Adirondack Mountains working in food and farming education an freelance writing. A former Cape Carter and residence but always a Cape Codder at heart, Becca spent her time living on the Cape running a CSA program where she taught members how to use harvest items in new and creative ways. Becca is a certified master food preserver, and her writing has been featured in Edible Capital District, Edible Vermont and Adirondack magazines, along with Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard blog and Mother Earth Living's Food Matters blog. Find Becker's writing at https://beccamillerwriting.weebly.com/
Jeff Avery, writer / photographer
Jeff Avery is the Chief Adventure Specialist and Owner of Cape Cod Learning Tours, a hands-on science exploration company. Currently sailing as a Second Cook and Chief Steward aboard NOAA research vessels in far flung parts of the world. He's traveled to 30 countries on 5 continents and always tries to bring a sense of wonder with him and back again. You can follow his adventures on TikTok (capecodnaturalist) and Instagram (capecodexplorer). Jeff is adamant about supporting local non-profit organizations and would love if you could donate time or money to the Family Table Collaborative, an organization bringing food security to those in need.
Larry Egan, writer / photographer
Along with being co-publisher and editorial director of edible Cape Cod, Larry Egan is also an Associated Press award-winning writer and commentator and host of the talk show “The Handyman Hotline” on Saturdays from 1-3 pm on 95.1 WXTK-FM. Larry lives in Marstons Mills with his wife Cori and Archie, the Portuguese Water Wonder Dog.
Jessie Gunnard, copy editor / writer
When asked the best thing about being Edible Cape Cod’s copy editor, Jessie Gunnard tells us: “I get to read—HAVE to read—every single word of every story, every issue. When I moved here eight years ago from the western (er, “more agricultural”) part of the state, I spent the first few months grumbling that there were no farmers’ markets, that no one even knew what a CSA was. So much has changed since then, in large part thanks to ECC and the community of smart hardworking people who grow, catch, drive around, sell, assemble, serve and write about our food. When I took a job with the County’s then-new Buy Fresh Buy Local Cape Cod program, I studied back issues of Edible Cape Cod to get up to speed. Now as the magazine’s copy editor and occasional contributor, my job is to help make the magazine even better, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Susan Fernald, writer / photographer
Susan Fernald grew up on Nantucket, spending her first twelve summers at the India House, her family’s summer hotel and restaurant, and ensuring that she would forever be a foodie. She loves cooking in and dining out, live music and recycling/repurposing items into something useful. She is a Holistic Health Coach and lives in Hyannis with Daphne, her rescue cat.
Michelle Koch, writer / photographer
Michelle Koch writes “The wonderful thing in creating the stories and making photographs of this place and the people who live here is how generous folks are. I walk alongside them sharing their lives for a bit, and then get to bring their ideas, challenges and successes to anyone opening the magazine. It’s exhilarating.” Eight years on board with Edible Cape Cod, she is a special needs educator by day who grow flowers and bakes for farmer’s markets in Truro and Orleans. Koch loves life on the lower Cape and exploring over the bridge with her two daughters and Woof, and blogs at seaturtlefarm.com.
Vanessa Stewart, writer
Vanessa Stewart comes to us after almost four decades in the restaurant business. Her forte is as a “libationist” and nothing excites her more than a drink menu that incorporates the freshest of ingredients. A childhood of vacations in Harwich Port inevitably led to owning a house on the Cape and, like her mother used to say, she has salt water in her veins. “Since its inception a decade ago, I have been a huge fan of Edible Cape Cod and the Edible franchise as a whole. I love the concept of cooking and eating that which is literally outside my front door. I think ECC and others like it have really brought this movement to the forefront and I believe by educating all of us about locally sourced foods we will move towards better health as a whole.”
Andrea Pyenson, writer / photographer
Andrea Pyenson has been a food writer and editor for more than 20 years, contributing to publications including The Boston Globe, Edible Boston, The Washington Post and Fine Cooking. She was co-author of three cookbooks with chef Andy Husbands and his barbecue teammate, Chris Hart, and helped edit the Boston Globe's New England Seafood Cookbook. Andrea has been a judge with The Readable Feast New England culinary book festival, now in its seventh year, since its founding. She divides her time between Truro and Newton.
John F. Carafoli, writer / photographer
John F. Carafoli is an international food stylist, consultant, and author. He wrote the seminal book Food Photography and Styling, Cape Cod Chef’s Table, Recipes from Buzzards Bay to Provincetown, and Great Italian American Food in New England: History, Traditions & Memories. He has been published in Gastronomica, The Journal of Food and Culture, The New York Times, L’italo-Americano Italian Newspaper, and Edible Cape Cod, where he won an EDDY for best use of recipes in a feature. He was profiled in the Italian publication ER (Emilia Romagna) and presented papers at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery in England. carafoli.com
