When Delicious Living launched, Managing Editor Pamela Emanoil was in grade school, often skipping school lunch lines in favor of ball games at recess. Food was an afterthought until she heard The Smiths’ song “Meat Is Murder,” read Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha in high school, and thus converted to being a vegetarian for a time. “That decision led me to health food stores.” At work, Emanoil enjoys learning how her meal choices affect her performance as an editor, rock climber, and trail runner. “It’s actually fun and useful to take my work home with me.”

In 1985, Senior Editor Susan Enfield Esrey was subsisting on sausage-and-starch-laden cafeteria fare while studying abroad at the University of Kent in England. Since then, she’s become passionate about cooking up fresh, flavorful food wherever she roams—tom kha ghai in Bangkok, avocado leaf-scented black-bean soup in Oaxaca, and farmers’ market smoked trout and goat-cheese salad in Manhattan. Now mom to Jack, 4, and Layla, 1, she enjoys getting paid to taste and critique upcoming Delicious Living recipes, as well as editing features and writing.

Senior Editor Jena Hofstedt was a freshman in high school in 1985. “Back then, food was simply something my mom put on the table for me every day. It was fuel to get me through my basketball, field hockey, and lacrosse practices.” Hofstedt came to Delicious Living after editing a women’s magazine in New York City. “I was looking for a magazine that would reflect my new healthy lifestyle in Colorado. Delicious Living fit the bill perfectly.” Today, Jena enjoys cooking up healthy meals for her husband, Dan, and their 9-month-old son, Finn.

In 1985, Senior Food Editor Elisa Bosley worked at the University of Washington in Seattle, where her husband was in graduate school. “I’ve always been ecominded, but Seattle’s natural sensibility really fostered that,” she says. “We recycled like crazy, ate fresh fish as often as possible, and walked everyplace in the rain.” Today, Bosley turns her food and nutrition interests into stories for Delicious Living. “Nothing pleases me more than making a good, healthy meal for my family,” she says. “I feel I have the best job in the world.”

Art Director Vicki Hopewell came to the natural lifestyle early: “Twenty years ago I was living in New Jersey, where I would bike and rock climb with my dad,” says Hopewell. “Because my mother was passionate about spiritual healing, she strived to incorporate ancient Indian and Chinese foods and culture into our diets and lifestyles. We tried to avoid shocking our bodies with cold food and drinks, and she encouraged us to eat specific foods for their energy.” In Colorado, Hopewell enjoys being surrounded by people who share her interests in health and fitness.

While growing up in Illinois, Designer Elizabeth Downey often enjoyed chocolate milkshakes for breakfast, but after moving to Colorado and joining the staff of Delicious Living, she has learned many more nutritious options for starting her day. “Until I began working for the magazine, I didn’t know there were so many yummy ways to incorporate healthy food into my diet,” she says. Downey feels lucky to have the opportunity to learn while doing something she loves—designing magazine stories.