I have always enjoyed watching track and field events for an unvarnished look at what amazing feats a trained human body can achieve. (To be fair, as a full-time sport spectator, athletes amaze me in any endeavor.)

My favorite T&F events are the relays. A true team effort, that, and the teams that win are the ones in which every member runs every leg, emotionally speaking. One runner is on the track, but every other is cheering, willing that runner forward with every step from their place on the course. The trickiest part of the race, of course, is the hand-off: A small mistake there can derail the entire effort. The amount of trust involved in handing off the baton at full speed, with one runner not able to even see it, is awe-inspiring.

Publishing is a relay race. The titles that endure, and dominate, over the long run are those that manage the hand-off from one leader to another. Meatingplace has always had a top-notch editorial team, and with the January issue of our magazine, we’re undertaking a hand-off. I am moving into a role focused more on daily news and new product initiatives, and Tom Johnston is taking the baton as editor of the magazine. (Janie Gabbett, who built the daily news machine from scratch, is retiring.)

Tom brings fresh eyes to our printed page and assumes our editorial voice, in the magazine and with his blog. I am excited to see how Meatingplace evolves under his leadership. — Lisa M. Keefe, editor-in-chief

Hand off

Having actually been the anchor on a 4 x 100-meter relay team, I know that my success in winning the race depended on the set up from each of the three other runners on my team. With Lisa, Janie and Julie Bricher, our science and technical editor, I’m confident in saying that I have been on the best team in the business and their support throughout the years has inspired me to carry this industry-leading magazine forward.

When I first arrived in this Chicago office 13 years ago, having left the newspaper reporting business, I knew very little of the meat industry, other than that it supplied the food that we eat every day.

But I had decided I wanted to use my more natural talents for feature writing, and I knew the 90-degree turn I took from mainstream media to an industry publication would be a challenging learning experience.

So when friends would say, “Wait, you’re going to write about meat?” I never imagined at the time at just how much there was to learn, from the science to the regulations to the products to the players to the haters. And the great thing, as so many of you know full well, is that the learning never ceases in this dynamic industry.

With that in mind, I am excited to take the baton from Lisa, not with the purpose of racing for some finish line, but with the idea that, like the industry we cover, we can remain a forward-thinking, dependable business with a valuable product; we can adapt to constant challenges and changes; and we can continously improve our practices.

So, yes, I write about meat. And I’m proud to be the voice of a magazine that does it so well. — Tom Johnston, editor

Relay

Join for free* to continue reading.