Tracey Ryder

Tracey Ryder is the President and CEO of Edible Communities, Inc., publishers of over 60 regional food magazines in the US and Canada.

In 2002, with more than twenty years of marketing, writing and graphic design experience under her belt, Tracey Ryder co-founded Edible Communities as a way to combine these professional skills and enhance her personal values. Growing up in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, Tracey spent her childhood paddling a canoe and canning vegetables from her family garden. This pure environment, rich with seasonal flavors, taught her that the best way to look at the world was from the ground up. It is this perspective that helps Tracey maintain the grassroots nature of Edible Communities, connecting consumers, farmers, purveyors, chefs and food artisans of all kinds through her community-based publications.

Tracey holds degrees in graphic design, journalism and psychology. In 1988, she completed the professional chefs training program at the Epicurean Cooking School in Los Angeles. Tracey believes that the only way for people to really know where their food comes from is to put a face to every farmer, and that these personal relationships are the key to a successful and healthy food delivery system. Tracey’s vision of sustaining the unique local flavors and economic viability of communities across the United States and Canada is the heart and soul of Edible Communities. She is actively involved in writing and recipe development for the forthcoming book "Edible: A Celebration of Local Food," is being published in April 2010, by John Wiley & Sons.