As Expected: Edible San Luis Obispo’s ‘Unexpected’ Summer Issue Out Now
Sometimes life’s most meaningful moments come from the most unexpected places. In this issue of Edible San Luis Obispo, we celebrate those moments and the people, places, and stories behind them.
You can pick up this summer’s issue of “Unexpected” and support our writers, photographers, illustrators, and designers. Find a copy out in the wild at over 100 locations across San Luis Obispo County or sign up for a subscription to have each beautiful issue delivered right to your door every season.
Stories from the summer issue will be added throughout June so keep checking back.
Food for Thought
Words by Aja Goare
Since the Christmas I received a Fisher-Price microphone and speaker set, I have been probing people with questions. Toddler me wasn’t quite so deep with my line of inquiry, but I was curious, nonetheless. As I got older and began to ponder a future career, nights spent with my dad at his job as a sound engineer for the local TV news station helped solidify my plans: I’d be a news reporter.
Four years of college, give or take, and six years of reporting across two stations in very different cities led me to burnout. During the pandemic, I stepped away from the only career I’d ever really considered and walked blindly into something new. Life is full of unexpected turns. Few of us spend a lifetime in a single line of work or pursuing the same goals or hobbies that we envisioned as youngsters. When we make the shift into uncharted waters, it’s often a moment accompanied by intense self-reflection, trepidation and uncertainty — at least it was for me, and for many of the others we heard from in this issue.
That’s because change is often a reaction to a feeling that something isn’t quite right. For better or worse, this transition can lead to the unexpected. Unexpected challenges, unanticipated passion and the development of new skills we didn’t know existed within ourselves.
But it’s not simply career shifts that present us with the unexpected. For Our Global Family Farm in San Luis Obispo, it was the community connection fostered through gatherings on the farm. At a Chinese restaurant in Paso Robles, it’s the revelation that dinner options aren’t limited to what’s on the menu. And for one North County woman, she never could have expected that simple cooking skills handed down from her mother would have her someday cooking for an American president.
Life is full of surprises! Since departing TV news, I’ve found new passions in environmental advocacy, volunteering and — of course — connecting with our amazing food and beverage industry. This summer, whether it’s a new cuisine or a different career, I hope you find joy and inspiration in the unexpected.
Warmly,
Aja
