Opinion: Celebrating A Century, The Florida Grower Way

In the buildup to celebrating the 100th anniversary of Florida Grower magazine this month, I was afforded a unique opportunity to step back from our day-to-day world and delve into our history in publishing, as well as the history of Florida agriculture. It has been an interesting journey, and we here at Florida Grower hope that this centennial issue will allow you to enjoy the ride as we travel back through the years, then leap ahead to see where the future might take us.

It all started back in October of 1908 when the first issue of The Florida Fruit And Produce News was published. Back then, the publication, which would become Florida Grower, was a weekly tabloid-sized paper being published out of Jacksonville. In 1910, the publication was purchased by and became the “official organ of the Florida Citrus Exchange” after moving to Tampa the previous year. The following year the publication would become Florida Grower — a name which it held until 1953 when it became known as Florida Grower And Rancher to better reflect its coverage of the cattle industry.

In 1925, the publication was purchased by Charles Mullen and Jerome Waterman from the Citrus Exchange and it ceased being the official organ of the exchange, though it continued to advocate cooperation among growers. By 1927, the Great Depression was beginning to be felt, so the publication became a monthly, as advertising suffered due to the hard times. The magazine changed hands a few more times over history, until our current owner Meister Media Worldwide purchased Florida Grower And Rancher in 1995. When the magazine celebrated its 90th anniversary two years later, it was decided that the publication should focus on the two areas of coverage where its expertise was strongest — citrus and vegetable production. In that light, “Rancher” was dropped and the magazine again became Florida Grower.

On page 6, we provide a look back at the history of the magazine. Instead of focusing so much on dates and who owned what when, this feature really tells the story of the magazine in the context of the times it reported in. Major moments in history were major moments in the publication’s type of coverage. In its early history, the magazine sent a call nationwide that Florida is the place to be with good land for farming and great little communities. Then after mobilizing with the nation to fight two World Wars, the magazine raised the red flag on unchecked growth and its effect on ag lands and natural resources. On page 26, we take a look at Florida’s phenomenal growth after World War II and the dire consequences urban sprawl could bring 50 years from now.

I want to extend a special thanks to our columnists, who took time to reflect on history and look ahead in this special issue. Our strong relationship with the ag industry over the years, particularly the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is one that we are very proud of and look forward to continuing.

Meister Media Worldwide is proud to be associated with the long heritage of this publication, and we look forward to the future, as we continue our role of serving Florida’s ag industry.