It has been two years since Edible Tampa Bay has been in production.
The magazine is part of the James Beard Foundation's Edible Communities collection of publications, which lists 90 publications nationwide; collectively, the Edible pubs form the largest media organization devoted to telling the stories and supporting the efforts of local food communities including farmers, fishers and restaurateurs.
Local journalist and foodie, Robin Sussingham, has recently acquired the magazine and is looking to breathe new life into the publication, with plans to launch in March 2021.
You might remember Sussingham’s name from Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's coverage on her Florida food podcast, The Zest, for WUSF Public Media. While researching topics for the podcast, Sussingham says that she’d often come across articles from Edible Orlando or another Edible publication in Florida.
“I started noticing how really well-written the articles were, and the gorgeous photography accompanying them, and I started to poke around a bit on the website.”
That led her to the “Own your own Edible!” tab, and she realized that the license for Edible Tampa Bay was available. The journalist dug deeper and found out that the previous publisher had stopped publishing around early 2018.
“When I went to their old website, I saw a feature story with my byline, and realized I had actually written for ETB years ago. So, I kind of took that as a sign that this was a good fit,” Sussingham added.
Throughout her career, Sussingham had dabbled in owning small businesses revolving around food, including a local produce business and a cookie gift delivery operation. But when she realized she could purchase a magazine all about local food and agriculture, she knew she hit the motherload.
Sussingham tells CL that while there will naturally be a different editorial and artistic vision, the core mission stays the same: “Supporting and telling the stories of our local growers, eateries, chefs, seafood, produce, brewers and all the food elements that go into making this part of Florida distinct and special.”
The new Edible owner says she’s busy sourcing local talent to contribute, exploring the potential of the magazine in the coming weeks, months and even years. That means diving deep into the restaurant scene from seed to table and planning live sponsored events to connect with readers.
“Since we were starting up the magazine again from scratch, it meant organizing the printing, design, website, advertising sales, social media, and distribution in addition to the editorial planning. It’s an ambitious schedule, but it is important to me that we launch in the spring, when everything here is growing.”
Upon its launch in March, issues will be published bi-monthly and distributed for free to nearly 300 carefully-chosen locations throughout the greater Tampa Bay Area. If you want it delivered to your door, you can snag a subscription for $24 a year via edibletampabay.com.
“There are so many ways to support Edible Tampa Bay, and by extension, support our local chefs and growers and food systems,” Sussingham added.
For instance, snag some advertising space, support advertisers and frequent restaurants, bars and farms featured in issues. To stay updated with Edible Tampa Bay prior to the launch, you can sign up for the publication’s newsletter and follow along on social media (@edibletampabay).
“We’ll be providing all kinds of information about new restaurants, cookbooks, gardening, seasonal recipes, etc. And of course, pick up a copy and share it with friends.”
Sussingham also invites local foodies to send story ideas and keep in touch to not only keep readers engaged but also rebuild Edible’s community that celebrates Tampa Bay’s flourishing food and drink scene.
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This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2020.