What we do

Constant fascination with the natural world alongside a deep love and respect for nature serves ongoing inspiration for Honest Magazine.

Born on an island and now living in the mountains, exploring the character of where I live reminds me of the beauty around us. These places hold food and memories of how we acquired our bounty before modern times. Old books on foraging, wild game, and the work of naturalists collect on shelves beside cookbooks. The garden is another source, proving a miracle with each seed that swells into a sturdy beet.

Stacks of books ripe with collections of ingredients, combinations, and applications are filed away to pull from when the need strikes.

As the magazine begins to find its shape, patience is key. Themes surface over the year, slowly whittling their way down to the most promising. When the time comes, the subject is waiting.

Weaving these things into a cohesive whole is my favorite part. It’s intuitive, and listening to the content shows exactly where it should go. What leads into what, which things to combine, and which to set aside, to give the reader the best experience.

I believe these stories and recipes are everywhere; it simply takes a careful eye and a thoughtful approach to find them. Rich, expressive imagery and considered prose invite the reader to look more closely and dive deeper into the subject.

Through exciting flavors, unexpected combinations, lost recipes, and the ways we gather our food and each other, we examine how these practices still shape and enrich our lives- reconnecting us to the ways we once used our hands to gather wild foods, turn the soil in our garden, and knead our dough. The world is ever-moving, yet these are the things that bring us back to ourselves, our roots, and each other. My hope is you find a moment of pause to sink deeper into the natural world and all the wonderful things that make it up.

Cheers, Shannon