1. WRITING THE VITAL TIMES
Each issue begins with a blank canvas to fill with stories about our outstanding farmers, their girls, our crew, and more.
2. TO THE PUBLISHER!
Once an issue is ready to publish, trusty printing friends in Springfield, MO get to work.
3. CREATING THE STAMP
A digital PDF is transformed into an aluminum plate (think of a giant stamp!) The aluminum plate is run through a printer to be “stamped” using vegetable based inks.
5. COLOR CHECKS BY COLOR EXPERTS
A color expert performs checks for color accuracy (It takes about 200 sheets to get the color dialed in before the official print takes place!)
6. TO THE PRINTING PRESS!
Once the color is dialed in, it’s off the presses — literally! The printing process takes about three 8-hour days to print one issue, totaling 9 million full-color issues per month! (That’s arguably the highest circulation of newspapers in the world!)
7. CUT, PACK, SHIP
Once the printing is complete, the sheets are cut into individual issues, bundled, and packed to send to ECS, our egg processing facility, where they’re placed into each carton of eggs and make their way to your local grocery store!
Once you’re done reading your Vital Times — don’t throw it out! These little newspapers are fully compostable
