New Magazine to Focus on Locally Grown Foods

Edible Ozarkansas, a nonprofit quarterly magazine debuting this fall, will highlight local foods with features on farmers, restaurants, nonprofit food agencies and Ozark culture.

Margie Alsbrook, owner of Alsbrook Legal Services in Springdale, is the magazine’s editor. She said she’s looking for freelance writers and photographers, as well as story ideas and advertisers.

Alsbrook said she’ll continue to consult on food and agricultural issues for her law firm.

The magazine’s sales director is Rhonda Crone, who recently completed a cookbook titled “Local Flavor of Northwest Arkansas.” Proceeds from the book sales benefit the nonprofit Feed Communities, which works to alleviate hunger.

The magazine’s office will be at 221 S. Locust Ave. in Fayetteville. Feed Communities recently leased the building with plans to create a “healthy community food hub,” according to its website, www.feedcommunities.org.

Proceeds from the magazine also will benefit Feed Communities.

Alsbrook said the magazine will be supported by an editorial advisory board headed by Patsy Watkins, a professor in the University of Arkansas’ Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism.

The magazine is a franchise of Edible Communities Inc., which publishes editions in cities and metropolitan areas across the country.

ECI’s mission, according to its website at www.ediblecommunities.com, “is to transform the way consumers shop for, cook, eat and relate to local food.”