Cane Creek Farms and Braeburn Farm in the tiny North Carolina town of Saxapahaw sustainably raise heritage pork and grass-fed beef, which is sourced to Left Bank Butchery.
Travel to Houston, TX, to meet a woman who is educating people about the food system one sweet spoonful of frozen custard at a time.
Heliculture, a fancy word for snail farming, is on the rise in the U.S. Visit a tiny greenhouse in Cutchogue, NY, where tens of thousands of snails are being hand raised on foraged greens.
The ancient preservation technique of fermentation turns out to have tremendous health benefits. Meet the team behind Edible Alchemy in San Diego, CA.
Travel to Jack Rabbit Hill Farm in Hotchkiss, CO, where a biodynamic farmer is crafting wines that express his farm’s high-desert environment.
Farmed mussels, clams and oysters are a sustainable seafood choice, and that’s good for you and the environment. Venture to Coupeville, WA, to meet a farmer on the forefront of sustainable shellfish farming.
There’s a world of flavor to explore beyond standard extra-virgin olive oil. Take a trip to Pitts, GA, where coldpressed, unrefined oils are made from sunflower, okra and sesame seeds.
Green Dirt Farms in Weston, MO, specializes in cheeses made from rich and creamy sheep’s milk. The cheeses get their start in well-tended soil that grows a range of prairie grasses that are responsible for the seasonal flavors in the cheeses.
Indian River Lagoon, in Vero Beach, FL, makes this part of Florida one of the world’s best citrus-growing regions. Meet a couple who is crafting sour beers that celebrate the region’s farming history.
Hydroponics are considered one way to efficiently and sustainably grow more fruits and veggies. Enter Boston based Freight Farms, who build self-contained hydroponic farms from cast-off shipping containers.
Meet the owner of Broken Arrow Ranch in Ingram, TX, who travels across the state, harvesting game on Texas ranches in a humane, sustainable way.
Illinois produces the highest volume of soybeans of any state and some of those beans make it to Phoenix Bean, whose tofu is on the menus of some of Chicago’s best restaurants.
In Louisvillle, KY, Louismill works directly with grain farmers to source wheat, rye and corn that is stone ground into its flour and grits. Some of the flours make their way to its wood-fired pizza restaurant.
Atlantic Sea Farms partners with lobstermen up and down the rocky coast of Maine to farm kelp in the region’s icy waters. The cultivation of this fast-growing, highly nutritious sea vegetable is creating new economic opportunities for fisheries in Maine while also benefiting the ocean. Plus, it’s delicious and chefs are finding creative ways to incorporate kelp into their menus.
At Smoking Goose in Indianapolis, Chris Eley is taking centuries-old meat preservation techniques and making them his own, creating unique charcuterie that reflects what’s coming from Indiana farms. In his aging room, beneficial bacteria and yeast work their magic over a span of weeks -- and sometimes years -- developing complex flavors and textures.
Just outside of Austin, James Brown has created a grain hub that connects the region’s bakers, chefs, brewers and distillers with organic heritage grains grown on Texas farms. The rise of artisan baking and craft brewing has spurred a resurgence in locally-milled stone-ground grain, and Barton Springs Mill gets unique varieties of wheat into the hands of Austin’s culinary artisans.
Union Kitchen’s Cullen Gilchrist is working to help launch and nurture culinary startups in Washington DC, offering business guidance, a communal kitchen, distribution services and even a string of grocery stores to help ensure success. In this episode, you’ll meet three entrepreneurs who have leveraged Union Kitchen’s assets to launch and grow food brands that have gone national.
Yoshihiro Sako uses time-honored Japanese techniques to brew small-batch sake using single-origin rice grown on Rue & Forsman ranch in the Sacramento Valley. With a focus on crafting sake that is meant to pair with northern California’s renowned cuisine, Yoshi works with the region’s sommeliers and shop owners to bring the beautifully ephemeral flavor of sake to the American table.
Through sustainable aquaculture, Marshallberg Farm is raising thousands of Russian sturgeon, producing environmentally-responsible osetra caviar and smoked sturgeon in North Carolina. Simply cured with salt, this osetra caviar is a buttery, briny indulgence. The fish is critically endangered and farmed sturgeon is categorized as a “Best Choice” on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.
Mead dates back to 7000 BC in China where honey was fermented with fruit and rice. At Bløm Meadworks in Michigan, honey from local apiaries is turned into dry, session-style mead. Working in partnership with farmers and beekeepers across the state, Lauren Bloom and Matt Ritchey are creating ferments that capture the essence of the region’s flavor.
Back before refrigeration, in order to preserve food for the winter months, meat was salted, dried or smoked, and fruits and veggies were dried, fermented, pickled or turned into jams. Today, the team at Roots Kitchen & Cannery preserves the flavor of the Montana harvest by turning fresh, organic produce into pickles, preserves and canned goods that have earned a Good Food Award.
Almost a thousand years ago, the first Polynesians brought sugarcane to the Hawaiian islands. Today, heirloom varieties are being preserved and cultivated on Oahu by the team at Kô Hana Rum. Unlike most rum, which is made from molasses, Kô Hana’s Agricole-style spirit is made with the juice, capturing the sweet essence of the sugarcane and preserving the unique flavor of these ancient varieties.
Just outside of Phoenix, the Button family is cultivating a bean that nourishes the soul as well as the body. Ramona Button was urged by her community’s elders to bring back the tepary bean, a nutrition-packed legume that has been cultivated by the Akimel O’odham people for centuries, but it was all but wiped out by the 1970s.
As we become more aware of our dinner’s carbon footprint, many are seeking to grow as much as possible close to home using environmentally-sensitive methods. In St. Louis, Matt Lebon of Custom Foodscaping builds permaculture food forests, focusing on native plants and resource management to create bountiful urban harvests.
At Food Building in Minneapolis, makers focused on transparency, quality and sourcing are working side-by-side, supporting each other and working to build a better food system. Red Table Meat Co., Baker's Field Flour & Bread and Alemar Cheese craft products use locally-sourced ingredients and the chefs at Kieran’s Kitchen pull these artisan creations together on the plate, completing the circle.
It’s easy to take salt for granted, but there’s a lot more to this essential mineral than you might imagine. In Portland, Oregon, Jacobsen Salt Co. harvests salt from the cold, clean waters of Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast. We explore exactly how flake sea salt is made and then follow the salt to see how local chefs and makers are utilizing the briny crystals in unique and delicious ways.
Shrimp is America’s favorite seafood, but most are produced unsustainably. Luckily, there is a rise in aquaculture producing Earth-friendly shrimp close to home. At Triple J Shrimp, Pacific white shrimp are raised sustainably thousands of miles from the ocean. Join Cat Neville for this eye-opening episode and then get into the kitchen as she cooks up Spanish-style chile-garlic shell-on shrimp.
By looking to the past, the family behind Hildebrand Farms Dairy is ensuring their farm’s future. Four generations work side by side to provide milk and cream bottled right on their own bottling line in reusable, sustainable glass, just like great grandpa. Join Cat Neville on the farm, get in the kitchen to make lasagna with from-scratch Mornay sauce, sausage, red peppers and spinach.
Winemakers only have one chance each year to get it right. From bud break to bottling, every step is critical in creating a great vintage. At Dale Hollow Winery, a young couple is focused on making regional wines one harvest at a time in a region that may surprise you: the Ozarks. After visiting the winery, you’ll get in the kitchen with Cat Neville to make wine-poached pears with sugared walnuts.
Mom, doctor, inventor and now a beekeeper, Dr. Marion Pierson installs apiaries in abandoned urban lots, protecting bees, building community and creating green STEM opportunities for young people through her non-profit, MO Hives. After buzzing around the hives, head back to host Cat Neville’s kitchen and make fried chicken with hot honey, peanuts and scallions.
Everything’s better when you collaborate. At Homie Hospitality, two couples work side by side, one running the farm and the other hosting wood-fired feasts made with the bounty that’s grown just outside the kitchen door. Visit this unique diversified farm and then head into the kitchen with Cat Neville to make honey-brined heritage pork porterhouse chops.
Born of an overabundance of mint, Bold Spoon Creamery’s Rachel Burns left a finance career to pursue a passion for ice cream. On her “ice cream farm,” Rachel grows herbs and fruit and welcomes school groups, using the math and science of ice cream to engage young minds. After a visit to the farm, head to the kitchen with Cat Neville to make an ice cream layer cake with red wine-chocolate ganache.
Founded in 1855, Adam Puchta Winery is the oldest, continuously -owned family farmed winery in the US. Seven generations have worked this land in the Hermann, Missouri, AVA. In this episode, you’ll meet Parker Puchta, who, after his father’s sudden passing, is at the helm of this historic winery. Today, he is building its legacy for his own son and the generations to come.
Meet a woman born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, who is honoring her history while crafting James Beard-winning flour and corn tortillas in the heartland. At Yoli Tortilleria, they use local ingredients and traditional techniques like nixtamalization, where dried corn is cooked and soaked in an alkaline solution, creating masa, the dough that’s pressed into corn tortillas.
Foeders have been used to store and age beverages for centuries. They are traditional, large-scale wooden casks typically used to age beer, but can be used for wine and spirits as well. At Foeder Crafters of America, they handcraft these massive barrels out of Missouri white oak, customizing each one for makers across the globe, from Japan to St. Louis.
In the shadow of the Gateway Arch, Dave Weglarz, a river-guide-turned-bonds-trader-turned distiller is hard at work, hand crafting Missouri bourbon, rum, brandy and thoroughly unique botanical-forward gins that have been ranked among the top spirits in the country.
Rice is one of the most widely cultivated crops in the world, and most is grown using a massive amount of water. At Castor River Farms, they sow the rice directly into the soil and focus on regenerative practices to care for that soil above all else. No tilling, no burning, no flooding, no chemicals and cover crops are key to this unique farm’s approach.
At the heart of Askinosie Chocolate’s mission, aside from hand crafting bean-to-bar chocolate, is the desire to impact the lives of cacao farmers across the globe. Through direct trade, the team at Askinosie is helping to create economic opportunities for farmers, who are seen as not simply suppliers, but partners.