Episode list

Who doesn't love cheese? But what kind of cheese is your favorite? Now that's a hard call. So we headed for Wisconsin to see how the masters do it. We went with our heads full of visions of cheddar and colby - and came away amazed instead by the fact that the world's best cheese might be something that's 'Gouda Nuff' to share with everybody. Gouda is a Dutch classic and it's certainly not a Wisconsin specialty. So leave it to the Dutch to bring it here. Marieke Penterman grew up in Holland and was dairy farming with her husband there. They wanted to grow, but there's really no room to do that in The Netherlands. Wide-open Wisconsin seemed the natural choice so they packed up the farm and moved to the States. But even in the U.S. Capital of Cheese Wisconsin, Marieke was getting homesick for her favorite Dutch classic. Being a dairy operator, she certainly had the raw materials. And making gouda is the same process as making any other cheese. There was one small problem: Marieke didn't know how to make Gouda... or any kind of cheese. But she was determined to recreate her favorite flavor from home. She went all in and launched Marieke Gouda, making a full line of nothing but Gouda cheeses that are now starting to show up in finer establishments across the land. Honestly, it's the best we've ever had anywhere - including Holland. And Marieke will soon become just the third female Master Cheesemaker in Wisconsin's storied history. Of course our host Chip Carter rolled up his sleeves and went to work right alongside her and the crew. He picked up a few pointers along the way - not to mention a style tip: No spoilers, but be sure to keep watching this one after the credits.

There's a long-time-and-growing concern in the world of agriculture: With a profession so demanding and often downright difficult, who's going to come home and take over the farm when this generation is done? Quite often, sons and daughters don't want to continue their fathers' and grandfathers' work. They don't want to stay in Rural America. And they don't want to work as hard as what they witnessed growing up. But some still share the same passion as the moms and dads and grandparents they watched who love the land and the job of feeding people. Shuman Farms is the world's premium producer of sweet onions, a homegrown success story out of Reidsville, GA - smack in the heart of Vidalia onion country. Founder John Shuman has long dreamed that at least one of his sons would come home to join the company. Now he knows they both are - and one reported for work in January after completing his education at the University of Georgia. You've seen the Shumans on our show before - they're one of the stories we love to follow. But you've never seen them like this. It's our very own crystal ball that will allow you to see what the future looks like now.

A couple of things you don't know about bananas: Number 1, you're opening 'em all wrong. Watch monkeys and you'll see they start at what we'd call the bottom. Peeled that way, you have a nice little handle and none of those nasty strings. Number 2, in less than 10 years, they'll all be gone. A fungus has spread like wildfire around the world for 20 years now, and the clock is ticking fast. No more banana splits, no more smoothies... just, bye bye bananas. Unless.

We keep telling you farming happens everywhere - in the country, of course, but also in cities and suburbs, on rooftops, in parking lots... and, amazingly, in the backyards of luxurious homes like the one owned by Atlanta's O'Day family - TV news veteran Elizabeth Prann (NewsNation, Fox, CNN) and Darren O'Day, who pitched 15 years in the Major Leagues and is now part of the Atlanta Braves broadcast crew. Though neither come from farming backgrounds, over the last few years they've really caught on. When Darren was still pitching, Elizabeth started some small gardening projects with their three kids. They weren't especially successful - a few inch-long carrots was about the best of it. But when Darren retired after the end of the 2022 baseball season, things got serious. Now their perfectly manicured Atlanta backyard is home to a flock of well-loved chickens and a wide variety of crops. They don't just talk the talk either - they've put in the time to learn what makes it work. And they put in the time to keep making it work.

When you open a bag of potato chips, do you ever stop and think that those were grown on a farm? Or wonder where that farm was? Or who the farmer was who grew 'em? Potatoes grow all over the U.S., but they have specific seasons. You have to use fresh potatoes for chips because of moisture content (it takes four pounds of potatoes to make one pound of chips!). Most times of years, those potatoes are coming from multiple locations. But in the summer - including the all-important 4th of July - a tiny part of NE North Carolina is the only game in town for the 3/4s of Americans who live east of the Rockies. That means when we all celebrate America's birthday, most of us are eating chips grown right here. In this first of a two-part episode, we'll show you what makes a perfect potato chip, how they're grown, and introduce you to some of the great North Carolina farmers who grow them.

You were probably surprised in Part 1 to find out that your 4th of July potato chips come from a small area of North Carolina. What you won't believe, is where the farmers who grow them are going from here. In Part 2 of this one, we'll meet some more of the great growers who make the North Carolina potato deal special. We'll also show you how those taters get sorted and packed. You'll meet the national reps from the National Potato Council and Potatoes USA who help put 'em on every plate. And we'll introduce you to a man who's in the process of taking his North Carolina potato deal to Cuba. That impoverished island is struggling to feed itself - seeds from North Carolina potatoes will fill the gap.

There's something amazing going on near the Florida Everglades. Farmers are growing crops without irrigation, even in the blistering southwestern part of the Sunshine State. Even more amazing, they're practicing agriculture the way people have done it for thousands of years - with just a few modern twists. Regenerative farming - doing what the land says do instead of what a book says do - is now firmly part of the ag universe. Which makes sense, because for most of the 11,000 years humans have been farming, those old-school ways were the practice. Only after World War II did modern ag methods become a thing. We met up with young farmers from all over the world who've gathered together to learn from each other as they implement the practice, specifically in ages-old agroforestry. That means planting crops that complement each other together. Maybe it starts with a tall coconut palm. Beneath that is a banana tree. Under that, some sort of fruit-producing bush. And below that, a ground plant. The taller plants protect the others from the brutal sun; the same water, in the form of dew and rain takes care of all. Like these farmers are fond of pointing out: Nobody waters the forest. And yet, it's there.

Papayas, mangoes, coconuts and bananas - walking through a jungle and seeing things like that makes you think you can't possibly still be in the U.S. But you most assuredly are, in Southwest Florida, near Fort Myers, in fact. What would really surprise you is to see these things growing together - like right on top of each other - and thriving without any fertilizer or pesticide or even any (gasp!) water. Once upon a time, Matthew Reece was a civil engineer by trade. That life proved unsatisfying. A change in the way he ate changed all the rest of it, too. Now Reece is practicing organic, regenerative agroforestry, operating a nursery and harvesting fruit for a variety of markets.

There are very few crops anywhere in the world that can pinpoint their origin. But we know the exact spot where Virginia peanuts were first planted, and we'll take you there. Virginia peanuts are the kind you think of when you're eating those plump, crunchy beauties out of a can or in shells at the ballpark. They're grown most everywhere now, but Virginia does it so well they call 'em all Virginia peanuts no matter where they're planted. You'll meet generations-old farm families who've been doing this almost as long as Virginia has been around.