I’ve been thinking a lot about words lately. Over the course of human history, emotions, perceptions, inspirations, freedoms, convictions, the beginning of wars and the end of wars have all hung on a few well-connected words. This is nothing new; there are hundreds of quotes about the power of words from folks much wiser than I.
For example, “Words are the model; words are the tools; words are the boards; words are the nails.”— Richard Rhodes, author of Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Making of the Atomic Bomb.
And “Words—so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them!”—Nathaniel Hawthorne, 19th century American novelist.
Lately, amid the current climate of division, derision and fear, I have felt the need to keep my own words a little closer to the chest—they’ve become a little more dear. Not that there isn’t plenty to say, but there is a sense of the futility of hollering into the echo chamber.
Here at Edible Ojai & Ventura County we have always celebrated people over politics, covering a wide variety of topics and folks from all walks of life, all centering somehow on food. This issue of the magazine is no different. We include the full gamut for summer: seasonal recipes that will leave you drooling; a story about new life for a historic building; a distillery with a greater purpose than mere spirits (page 10); a behind-the-scenes (and in-the-kitchen) look at a nearby fire station; and a look at the backbone of the farming industry in Ventura County—our farmworkers.
That last one, focused on migrant farmworkers, sent me down some interesting rabbit holes during our fact-checking process. I already knew that our farmworkers are an essential part of the planting and harvest at local farms, but I also learned more about H-2A temporary ag visas, I read about some of the challenges that come with the path to citizenship and I got to hear stories from real people who are terrified, even if they have legal residency.
And so we are back to words. The word immigration, a simple term that is connected to every non-Indigenous person in our country, now creates division along political lines and justifiable fear amongst people of color. Beyond a deep sadness for the loss of what was once a proud part of our identity as a nation, my takeaway is that there are always humans behind the story. My hope is that as you journey through these pages, you can find those human connections and share them with others—maybe even over a meal of pozole or mole poblano.
Until next season,
Tami
