2022

S3.E1 ∙ Where The (Water) Buffalo Roam

Thu, Feb 16, 2023

Water buffalo are native to Asia -- so what are they doing on a farm in Salisbury, North Carolina? They're there to provide milk for traditional Italian buffala mozzarella cheese and super creamy gelato for Fading D Farms. Fading D Farms is up in the hills of Salisbury, NC, where typically no kind of buffalo roams. But the farm produces milk, meat, traditional Italian buffala mozzarella cheese and -- most amazingly -- gelato. Host Chip Carter started his day milking the first water buffalo he ever met at 7:30 a.m. By noon, he'd also helped make a batch of gelato... and then made off with his own stash.

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S3.E2 ∙ Gypsy's Place - The Raleigh Farmers Market

Thu, Feb 23, 2023

If you're passing through Raleigh, NC (or even coming close) there's an amazing restaurant you need to know about. It's technically called The North Carolina State Farmers Market restaurant -- but folks around there just call it Gypsy's place. That's because Gypsy Gilliam, who's been in business there for over 20 years, is the lady behind the Market magic. Almost everything on the vast menu is North Carolina-grown. And most of what you're eating was sourced straight from the Farmers Market itself. Which is another wonder to behold. Most state terminal farmers markets are anything but public-friendly. They're industrial hubbubs that are a critical link in keeping us all fed. But the Raleigh State Market is a tourist attraction unto itself -- on every Top 10 List of things to do in Raleigh. We also sit down with North Carolina Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture Sandy Stewart to talk about why -- and how it all comes together so spectacularly as a showcase for North Carolina Agriculture at Gypsy's Place.

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S3.E3 ∙ Stuckey's - An American Icon Reborn

Thu, Mar 02, 2023

There was a time you couldn't get on the wide open roads of America and not see a Stuckey's store. Loaded with treats beyond imagination that you just couldn't get anywhere else, Stuckey's quickly became an American icon after it launched in 1937. At the peak of the empire there were almost 400 stores coast-to-coast. But time marches on. Tastes change. Production was outsourced to Mexico. The Stuckey family lost control of the business. And the brand began to fade. Now a new generation is bringing it back. Granddaughter Stephanie Stuckey bought her family name back from the corporate world, moved headquarters and production back to tiny Wrens, GA, where it all started, and was smart enough to realize that, at heart, Stuckey's wasn't a snack company -- it was a pecan company with a lot of different ways to use the home field advantage Georgia has as the nation's leading pecan producer. So she partnered with multi-generation pecan grower R.G. Lamar -- and you're now starting to see the results everywhere. We'll take you back to Stuckey's -- it's a remarkable story about the rebirth of an American icon.

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S3.E4 ∙ Round The Table - A Top-Down View Of Agriculture

Thu, Mar 09, 2023

We took you to the amazing North Carolina State Farmers Market and Restaurant in Episode 2 of this season, "Gypsy's Place." What you didn't know then is that we had some very important guests joining us for lunch that day. Our goal was to show some of the support infrastructure it takes to keep farmers going. We all know it starts with a seed and winds up on our plate, but there are dozens, sometime hundreds of hands involved in the process. So we gathered a dozen or so leaders from the North Carolina agriculture world, representing farms, government and academia, to take a look at their roles in connecting the dots. But this is not just a North Carolina story. There are people just like this in your home state doing what they can to help keep you fed.

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S3.E5 ∙ A Real Family Farm

Thu, Mar 16, 2023

We hear a lot about the decline of the true family farm these days. It's become a world of specialization and big agriculture - even though most of those companies are still family owned, they're not exactly the picture of a family farm we have in our minds. Meet the Gibbs Family. They live somewhere in central Georgia (even the GPS isn't quite sure) and together grow peas, beans, watermelons, flowers, and even have 300 head of cattle (and their own store on-the-farm and another in a nearby town!) Mom and Dad Brooks and Eric have made sure their kids understand the value of hard work. The teenage girls, EllaGrace and LizzyRae, manage the cattle by themselves. And even 9-year-old Cotton Davis gives up morning cartoons to report to the barn by 7 a.m. and start the variety of tasks he has daily. It's a refreshing look at the way America used to be - and the way parts of it still are today, whether people talk much about it or not.

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S3.E6 ∙ The Watermelon Capital Of The World

Thu, Mar 23, 2023

Watermelon is grown around the world and in 44 U.S. states. It's one of the most popular global fruits. But year-in and year-out, tiny Cordele, GA is named Watermelon Capital of the World for the sweetness and volume of watermelon that flows from there -- there's even a giant state of a watermelon slice to welcome visitors -- along with a giant, decommissioned Titan missile that's visible from the interstate and draws travelers from all over as they pass on Interstate 75. The missile lures 'em in -- the watermelon makes them want to come back. We'll talk with some farmers and community leaders about how little Cordele has risen to such grand heights in the watermelon world.

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S3.E7 ∙ Farming The Seas

Thu, Mar 30, 2023

We spend most of our time in the dirt and on the farm, and that won't change. But we wondered if our friends in the wild-caught seafood industry might deal with some of the same problems and challenges our farmer friends on land do. The answer? Oh yeah -- and maybe then some. If you've ever been to Clearwater, FL, you've probably heard of Frenchy's -- a half-dozen unique restaurants, all with a laid-back Florida feel and nothing but fresh seafood they catch themselves. The grouper sandwich sets the world standard. And stone crab season sets off an annual rush. Frenchy's success over the last few years has led them to go into the supply business as well -- now they maintain their own fleet of boats to stock their own restaurants as well as the Frenchy's Seafood Company. It's a tasty story to be sure.

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S3.E8 ∙ Eat Your Broccoli!

Thu, Apr 06, 2023

Millions of kids spent the first few years of their lives saying "Yuck" to broccoli. Pres. George Bush Sr. didn't like it either. But most of us grow up to find it quite tasty. And over the last few years, we've come to realize just what a nutritional powerhouse this flowery veggie is -- along with its close cousins Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. Their known as cruciferous vegetables, because they flower in the shape of a cross. But these days you could just substitute the word cruciferous with "super amazingly healthy." The crucifers have traditionally been West Coast crops, but over the last few years new varieties have been developed that can be grown almost anywhere. They're also some of the weirdest looking things you've ever seen coming out of the ground. In winter, the area around Palatka, FL is the crucifer capital of the U.S. We visited L&M Farms and Smith Farms to find out more about how these tasty health helpers grow and are harvested.

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S3.E9 ∙ Sweet Vidalia Reboot, Part 1

Thu, Apr 13, 2023

The legendary Vidalia Onion might be the greatest accident in the history of agriculture. It's hard to imagine living without 'em now, but they actually didn't even exist until the 1930s. And it was another 50 years before the rest of us found out. In the 1930s, a farmer in Vidalia had a contract to deliver some regular onions to the local Piggly Wiggly. There was a late freeze that took out his crop. No more seedlings were available locally. Finally, he resorted to having a train car load of onion plants from Texas. They arrived right on time -- but when the crop came up, the onions weren't hot... they were sweet. Nobody was happy about it... at first. The farmer thought he was ruined. The Piggly Wiggly manager decided to give 'em a try anyway. You know the rest of the story... or think you do. We'll tell you how that happened, show you how Vidalia onions grow and are harvested and -- bonus. -- host Chip Carter also introduces us to some of his favorite people in the world in his musical tribute to the region, "Sweet Vidalia". In Part 2, we'll meet three remarkable farmers, each with tragedy to triumph stories that will leave you moved -- and inspired.

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S3.E10 ∙ Sweet Vidalia Reboot, Part 2

Thu, Apr 20, 2023

In Part 1, we found out that the legendary Vidalia Onion might be the greatest accident in the history of agriculture. Now it's time to meet some amazing farmers. Aries Haygood was 32-years-old and on top of the world. He'd just been named Vidalia Onion Grower of the Year -- an honor usually reserved for his elder peers -- when he got an earth-shattering medical diagnosis. Bo Herndon didn't come from a farming background. But he always knew what he wanted to do. He didn't have much help getting going -- but he's certainly made the most of it since. John Shuman was away at college when he got a call telling him to come home. The family farm had gone bust. He'd planned to come back and join when he graduated. Now there was nothing left. Until he rebuilt it all. These stories will show you why Vidalia, GA is probably our favorite part of everything we do. We love it all, but there's something special about an onion that's sweet and savory at the same time -- and the people who grow it.

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S3.E11 ∙ Why Is There A Seaport In A Show About Farming?

Thu, Apr 27, 2023

We import a lot of the food we eat. Fortunately for farmers, we export a lot, too. We think of endless lines of trucks streaming in across our southern border bringing in fruits and veggies from Central and South America, and that certainly happens. But for longer trips, larger loads, nothing beats shipping by sea. It's more economical and more ecologically friendly. It provides year-round supply of things we've now come to always expect at the supermarket - sweet onions, watermelon, citrus. And critically, it gives U.S. farmers expanded markets for their crops. It's also going on 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Giant vessels packed with countless containers and the endless beep and whir of cranes, train cars rumbling, trucks coming and going, You'll be amazed at the impact a port has on agriculture - and vice versa. And we'll show how all that happens at Port of Savannah, one of the nation's oldest and its third-busiest. That's a lot of cargo - and it never stops.

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S3.E12 ∙ The Buzz About Bees

Thu, May 04, 2023

It's the oldest story we know - the birds and the bees. We don't need the birds to grow our food, but without the bees we'd be in a lot of trouble. About a third of all crops require direct pollination by bees, including 70 of the top 100 primary sources of our food. Take away the bees, you take away the food. There's a lot we don't understand about our flying friends - but there's a whole lot more we're finding out. Where The Food Comes From spent a day with the experts at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab to get the buzz. We'll dive deep to show you some of the very surprising ways bees impact what you eat - and we'll also show you what's actually going on inside those hives.

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S3.E13 ∙ Cold-Cut Platter? Nope - It's Charcuterie!

Thu, Jul 06, 2023

So you always thought we invented cold cut and cheese platters in modern times? Hold your roll - charcuterie is an ancient art that stretches back to 14th Century France. But it's had a real renaissance of late. To make great charcuterie, you have to have great meats. And we found an amazing operation in Baxley, GA that does it all. Woody Folsom comes from generations of ranchers. He upped the game by breeding a herd for premium beef. He's done the same with the pork he's now producing at his Circle F Farms in south Georgia. Partner and wife Tamala is in charge of the next step. She's the operator of Circle F Meats, an amazing grocery and butcher shop with a 6000-square-foot showroom. We visited the farm and the store of course - and we got a little firsthand experience in the fine art of charcuterie.

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