A glance at my bedside table reveals a lot about me—a petite shelf crammed with yet-to-be-read magazines, more dog hair than I’d care to admit and a stack of books piled so high they nearly eclipse the neighboring lamp. Browsing the titles of this towering library also provides a glimpse into how this issue’s theme, Food & Fiction, came to be.
Wedged between a copy of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass and The Third Plate by Dan Barber is Michelle Wildgen’s Wine People and Bread and Butter. Below them is Leaning Toward Light: Poems for Gardens & the Hands that Tend Them. Topping the stack is my daughter’s Disney Princess cookbook.
To me, the stories of our food system and communities are best told through a combination of fiction and nonfiction, through deep analytical dives and sweeping poetry. Fiction, in particular, has a way of sharing nuanced messages in a package that stays with us long after we turn the last page. Some of my earliest literary favorites were, no surprise, centered around food and have left a lasting impact. Tomie de Paola’s Strega Nona teaches life lessons through making pasta and growing vegetables, while the chocolate cake eating punishment in Roald Dahl’s Matilda has left me, to this day, passing on cake.
As an adult, I have been drawn to works of fiction and fantasy, fascinated by how, even on distant planets or in alternate dimensions, food often plays a central role in telling us about a place and its people. The same is true of fiction taking place on our own planet, like the works of Michelle Wildgen, which have helped me understand how food can be a literary vehicle to understanding a vast range of emotions and experiences.
But beyond the books, diving into this spring’s issue has opened a world rich with intersections between fiction and our local food system. Mushroom literature can often read more like science fiction—inspiring this issue’s Cook at Home recipes—and the ability for Wisconsin farms to grow vegetables even in the depths of winter through season extension technology would have sounded like fairy tales not so long ago.
So as we emerge from our winter reading nooks into a Wisconsin beginning to blossom, I hope you’ll let your imagination run a little wild. Find some culinary inspiration from a favorite novel or discover a new favorite spot to grab a book and a beverage. However you celebrate spring, we hope it’s filled with great reads and even better bites!
Cheers,
Marissa DeGroot, Managing Editor
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