Getting Down to the Grit

Getting Down to the Grit. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Growing up I remember my grandparents spending considerable time reading the paper and one in particular. It was called Grit and from the time I could read, I would also thumb through the pages. Hank Will is the current Editor of Grit magazine who says it has quite a long history of delivering upbeat news. WILL: I'd like to think of it as the premiere lifestyle publication really in the country. We really are about lifestyle. We're sort of geared towards folks that want to live out where the pavement ends for any number of reasons. Some folks farm, some folks just have some acreage that they maintain, some live in a small town or on the edge of a small town. In keeping with our roots, we've got a big component that's sort of devoted to celebrating community for lack of a better way of saying it really. Grit has been around since 1882 and that is no small feat, keeping up with the times. WILL: We try to avoid the gloom and doom because there's plenty of that out there so it's a fairly proud heritage to be a part of. Just about 3 years we changed from a monthly tabloid style paper to a bi-monthly, full color, slick glossy, perfect bound magazine and it's actually rejuvenated the brand if that's really even possible to rejuvenate such a powerful brand but it's certainly given it a bit of new life. But they have also seen a lot of readership from cityfolk. WILL: Well I think one of the sort of key ways we work in that environment is we recognize that we have a number of readers, actually a significant portion of our reader are urban dwellers and for a lack of a better term we kind of call them dreamers and for whatever reason they relate to, or aspire to perhaps a simpler life or a more self-sustaining life. Maybe a little bit quieter life at some point for themselves and I think Grit sort of brings that into their condominium in downtown Chicago. I have talked quite a lot lately about that topic of the desire to get more into the back to basics mode and Grit is one way urbanites can connect. One thing I have always wondered...where did the name Grit come from and what does it mean? WILL: You know that's a great question. I have absolutely no idea how our founder chose the name Grit. Well that didn't go quite as I planned. WILL: What I do know is that one of his initial mission statements spoke to the sort of stick-to-itiveness and pluck and determination of really the folks that kind of founded or at least drove the westward expansion in the United States and my suspicion is the grit which is somewhat defined that way sort of said it all in word. You can find them online at www.grit.com. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.