If you're just driving around Birmingham, you probably won't see the turn for Southern Progress, the publisher of Southern Living, Progressive Farmer, Southern Accents, Cooking Light, and Coastal Livingmagazines. The office is located on 28 acres of land and nestled in the woods, next to Samford University and HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital. The building was designed by architect firm Jova, Daniels, and Busby of Atlanta and Birmingham and was planned to preserve the environment and blend with the landscape. The buildings do not rise above the tree line. Employees are treated to a spectacular view of the four man-made lakes on the property. The atrium features a cascading waterfall, green foliage, native flowers, and tall trees that make a wonderful place for a picnic lunch for employees or a shooting location for the magazine. Inside the building, the walls are decorated with artwork from Southern artists and rotated periodically so employees get a chance to view them all.
Our tour was led by Production Assistant and native Huntsvillian, Leah Haney. After a warm welcome, Leah lead us around the first floor of the building and explained the history of the company and pointing out artwork. The highlight of our visit was the eight Test Kitchens on the second floor. The kitchens are designed like any domestic kitchen and the recipes tested using common kitchen items that you would have in your own home. Two people work in each kitchen preparing 4 recipes each morning. One person is in charge of doing the weekly shopping for all the kitchens at local grocery stores, just as you would do yourself. The weekly budget is around $1500. Employees are not allowed to sample the food from the test kitchens--that job is for the Food Editors, who rate each recipe with 1, 1+, 2, 2+ or 3. Only about five recipes a year earn a 3. All recipes in Southern Livinghave rated at least a 2. Any leftovers from the kitchens are donated to the a local food pantry. We were fortunate to meet Food Editor Andria Scott Hurst during our tour.
Next to the Test Kitchens is the magazine's photography studio. The day we toured they were shooting a summer picnic scene, with a photo stylist supervising. The prop room for the studio contains a wide assortment of dishes, linens, and baskets used in the magazine. Periodically, there is a prop sale and employees are allowed to make some great buys.
My only complaint about our tour was that it was too short, they didn't let us sample the food in the test kitchens, and I was hoping they'd offer to built us our dream house! Other than that, Southern Living Magazine showed us exactly what Southern Hospitality is all about and we'll just have to wait until the postman delivers our next issue.
Southern Living Magazineis only one of several magazine and book interests of its parent company, Southern Progress, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Other publications includeProgressive Farmer, Southern Accents, Cooking Light, Costal Livingand the book operation of Oxmoor House.
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