From The Editor

It is fitting to me that HOME‘s 50th issue is also the issue dedicated to our annual Taste of Gainesville event. The event, to me, embodies in large part the overall mission of HOME: to highlight and support the best parts of our community. In the case of Taste, these “best parts” are equally the event participants, the incredibly talented chefs and restaurants, and the event beneficiaries, the incredibly dedicated organizations supporting our local children – the Child Advocacy Center, PACE Center for Girls Alachua, Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Central Florida and Tyler’s Hope for a Dystonia Cure. Read a fun Q&A with this year’s Iron Chef Gainesville competitors and get a sampling of the restaurants appearing at the event starting on page 53.

In exploring the food theme, we focused our attention on the growing movement to utilize produce from local farms in our schools, homes and restaurants. You’ll find articles on the various organizations facilitating this movement sprinkled throughout the issue. Thinking about trying one of those new healthy meal services popping up all over? We’ve rounded up the need-to-know details of four major players on page 46.

Our four-legged friends also deserve great food, so we tracked down the hard-working women peddling premium treats in Gainesville’s one-and-only food truck for dogs. Read the truck’s cool origin story on page 76.

On the Home section front, I’d like to welcome columnists Keri Leslie and Tarra Peterson, who braved the overwhelming Atlanta market to find the newest interior style trends, outlined on page 22.

I’d also like to give a big shout out to the great work being done by ProjectYouthBuild, a highly competitive program helping our community’s at-risk youth find success. Read how they’re building character by building community values on page 60.

On behalf of HOMEys past and present, thank you for reading.

With gratitude,
Jackie Smith
Editor, Advantage Publishing Inc.