SPRING 2022 • ISSUE 59
Growing up on a small family farm, I learned the farm-to-fork philosophy at an early age and understood that hard work put food on the dinner table. Garden-grown, pasture-raised, and handmade were the best of the best. Although not a native, I have been a resident of Sacramento County for more than 30 years. I am excited to take on the responsibility of reporting and telling stories of families and individuals who bring residents the bounties of their labors and passions.
Having spent 20 years working in high tech as an engineer, I expected this publishing gig to be quite a shift. But it isn’t so much. I know how to manage projects, meet deadlines, and work well with people from many walks of life. And I am inherently artistic and creative! When the tech world took its toll, I went back to my roots to work on the farm — sort of. I no longer had to do the hard, manual labor; rather, I did the digital stuff required for the farm business. I ramped up our online presence and retail sales at our family’s chestnut farm. Can I just say, farming is hard. Support your farmers: Buy local!
My gateway to edible Communities was when our farm (Harrison’s California Chestnuts) was featured in edible Shasta Butte in Fall 2016. It meant so much to our family to have a spotlight put on our farm. So when I found out edible Sacramento was for sale, my excitement was uncontainable; there was no other option for me. I had to take the plunge and become its next publisher. So here I am, writing this letter to our readers and taking a breath to appreciate the journey that brought me here.
I’ve surrounded myself with a team that has equivalent dedication to bringing readers insightful and interesting articles to support our local community. Sacramento and all its surrounding cities have a bounty of fresh everything. It’s a wonderful place to live, drink, and eat, with such a local abundance of industry purveyors and farmers. I intend to share its many stories and bring value to the community.
From all of us on the edible Sacramento team, we are proud of our inaugural “relaunch” issue. We are certain our readers and followers will find themselves excited about us returning and will look forward to each quarterly issue.
To close, I’d like to dedicate this first issue under my stewardship to two farmers who left this world too soon and aren’t here to rejoice with me: my dad, Paul Harrison, and my brother-in-law, Flavio Alfaro.
Happy spring!
Anastasia Murphy