Fall 2009 Letter from the Editor

   A FEW MONTHS AGO I stumbled into the house with my baby in his car seat, cloth bags filled with groceries draped over my shoulders, and mail clamped between my teeth. As I searched for a place to put down my load, I was annoyed to see a ratty pair of checkered underpants dotted with fairies sitting on the dining room table. “Mariela, what are your underwear doing here?” I snapped at my six-year old. 
   “Mom, I left them there for you to sew,” she replied. I picked them up and saw that the pink bric-a-brac had started to disintegrate and pull off the faded fabric on the hand-me-down panties.  I rolled my eyes, “I’m not sewing this; you have plenty of other underwear,” I said. 
   “But Moooommm,” she whined, “I thought you could sew them and bring them to See and Save for some other little girl to enjoy.” Oh, jeez, I thought. I was both mortified and thrilled as I snuck them into the trash; my kid is too conscientious. But what, exactly, does conscientious mean?
    Although I have been a freelance writer for many years, it wasn’t until I took on the editorial duties here at Teton Family Magazine that I truly grasped the importance of every word: words in titles, words in stories and captions, the number of words and how much space they take up in a publication with a small budget, and the words we use to represent our mission. 
    The words that have been giving me the most difficulty are sustainability, conscientious, community, and green. Here’s what I think:
    SUSTAINABILITY describes a system of practices that are healthy for our bodies and the environment, economically viable, have a positive influence on communities, and can be maintained indefinitely.
    BEING CONSCIENTIOUS refers to thinking carefully before acting, and acting according to the dictates of one’s principles (as opposed to conscious—which is simply being awake and aware). 
    COMMUNITY is especially tricky—it can refer to almost anything: you, your roommates, your hometown, your bioregion, your religion, your nation, or all of humanity. 
    GREEN is often used interchangeably with sustainability. Technically it can refer to either money or a healthy environment, but I’ve decided you can’t talk about one without the other. 
    Still pretty vague, eh? Perhaps that’s because, as a friend suggested, these words are all really just value terms, not unlike justice, health, happiness … even God. Precise meanings are difficult to pin down because they mean something different to all of us. 
    While we can probably all agree that the core ideal of sustainability is that we preserve something for future generations—and the way we do that is a personal decision. If it doesn’t taste good, if you can’t afford it, if it’s a chore, then it’s not sustainable. For example, I made a gallant effort with my second baby to use cloth diapers, but a soggy baby and endless laundry brought me to tears, so I pawned them on eBay. 
    The mission of Teton Family Magazine is to provide readers with tools to make conscientious, sustainable choices that benefit you and your community while considering both kinds of green. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things you could be doing—but give yourself a break. Slow down, revel in your successes, and leave time to enjoy what makes life in the Tetons sustainable for YOU.  

Have fun!

Sue Muncaster

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Welcome!

Food Activist and Award Winning Photographer Team Up With Local 

Publisher to Launch Teton Family Magazine: Cultivating a Healthy, 

Sustainable Community.  

What? Start a new magazine in this economy? Are they nuts?  

Food activist Sue Muncaster, professional food photographer Paulette Phlipot, and Powder Mountain Press publisher Nancy McCullough-McCoy are betting this is the perfect time to do something new. Collectively, they believe that promoting healthy and sustainable local living is taking a positive step toward helping us weather the economic, environmental, and social storms facing the community and our nation.  

The mission of Teton Family Magazine is to provide unique, usable information for local residents that will make their lives better. Perhaps this means advice on how to plant fruit trees that thrive in the Teton environment, how to handle your 6-year old’s budding interest in the Internet, what to cook with all the spaghetti squash you bought at the farmer’s market, where to turn for medical needs, or how to explore southern Wyoming’s Red Desert. 

What is sustainable and healthy? Buying local. Eating fresh. Sitting around the dinner table with family and friends. Exploring with kids. Getting to know your neighbors. Green building.  

The founders of the magazine promise not to preach; and not one of them believes that sustainability means you have to sacrifice life’s pleasures.  

The idea for the magazine was inspired by beautifully crafted Edible Communities publications that promote local foods in over sixty towns and cities around the nation. Phlipot, who specializes in travel, lifestyle, and food images, approached Muncaster, a freelance writer, blogger, and food activist, last summer to see if they might team up to produce an Edible Tetons magazine. The pair, who both contribute to Powder Mountain Press’s other publications (Teton Home and Living, Teton Valley Magazine, and A Grand Wedding and Event Planner), decided to seek the advice of publisher McCullough-McCoy before moving forward.  

McCullough-McCoy advised them that she thought the Tetons, even including both sides of the pass, might hold too small of a population to support a “food only” magazine. She expressed that she had long wanted to do a magazine for locals that, in addition to food, covered topics like home, garden, kids, pets, and grandparents. As the ladies brainstormed, they realized they shared a passion for sustainability, the natural beauty of this place, adventure, and their friends, family, and community members.  

I believe that ‘family’ means more than Mom, Dad and the kids. It means more than pets and grandparents. We as a community are ‘family’ and we need each other to thrive,” says McCullough-McCoy.  Readers will find useable information for the whole family in columns that focus on homes, gardening, food, adventure, health, and lifestyle matters.  “As editor, I’m basically looking for stories containing information that I want to know about as a mom, athlete and adventurer, food lover, and environmentalist,” says Muncaster. “I figure if I am looking for the information for myself and my family, chances are others in my community are looking for the same thing.  Teton Family Magazine will be distributed three times a year free-of-charge, entirely supported by local advertisers. The founders believe that the businesses that can attract and maintain a local following—and not be entirely dependent on tourism dollars— will thrive in the new economy.  The trio considered how to make the magazine production itself “sustainable” and decided that although web-based publications make good sense, a high-quality, visually appealing, and informative publication that is worth saving is also worth the paper. “I want to produce a publication readers can enjoy over a cup of coffee, something that gets people away from the computer,” says Muncaster. However, the trio are web-savvy, and along with an accompanying website that will eventually have an interactive community calendar and directory of green business, you can check their activities out on both Twitter and Facebook.  Teton Family Magazine will be printed locally, and will forego a flashy, slick look in favor of a cleaner, more down-to-earth, format. “We’ll also be looking to local photographers and writers for content,” Muncaster says. 

 

Here is a list of the Columns you will find in each issue:

Mountain Style

   Front of the book gear/book/product reviews. 

Home/Garden

   Focus on sustainable building, gardening, and energy conservation

Adventure

   Local adventures, how to’s by LOCALS for locals. 

Good Food

   Food, beverage and restaurant advice

Family/Community

   Traditions, neighbors, pets, grandparents

In Your Words

   Reader’s forum

Ask the Expert

   Health advice from local practitioners