Introducing Tangled Taproot, the Podcast - Unique Stories from Small-Scale Farmers

[00:00:00] Welcome to Tangled Taproot, where we explore the unique stories of small scale Midwestern farmers. I'm your co-host Jackson. I'm John Callan. And I'm Kristen. And this is a production of milk and hummus. Milk and honey. No milk and hummus. You're on the Go Chickpea base snack company that focus on flavorful hummus and ready to drink plant-based latte. Today we are kicking off something a bit different, a bit new for us. We are starting a podcast. A podcast? Yes, that's right. At podcasts. And it all started at the Farmer's market, the gateway drug to fresh produce where we were selling our own hummus ware since 2020 at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market in St. Louis, Missouri, where there are hundreds of vendors and they come from all over eastern Missouri and southern. Being a part of this environment gave us unprecedented access to dozens of entrepreneurs, new generation farmers, and homesteaders. We bonded over flip tents and freezing temperatures. Even [00:01:00] one vendor being struck by lightning during the early morning hours. They can be long, they be dreary, but we get to hang out. We get to swap stories and even trace some wears. With other farmers friends as well. And lemme tell you, those stories are pretty mind blowing. The first thing that caught my attention was how our perceptions of weather differed. Weather report says in some April day that we'll have a cold snap. Maybe I'll put on a jacket before I leave. Meanwhile, a farmer, he'll be having, oh fuck moment, attempting to cover an entire crop of tomatoes with every known piece of fabric in its possession, including clothes. And why is that? Because those tomatoes or whatever they're already spoken for at a local restaurant, a change in weather can mean the livelihood or ruin for that. When it comes to our food, most people only see the grand finale, the plated dish, the bagged salad, greens, the packaged pork shoulder. We often hear the brilliant stories of the masterful chef or restaurateur, but less often we get to go deeper to hear the stories behind the ingredients, to learn about the men and women who went against the modern tropes of [00:02:00] career and finding new and creative ways to generate revenue. We wanted to ask about their journey to farming, what they grow and. I'm John Callen, co-host, founder of Milk and Hummus. I've always been interested in applied science, the hands-on stuff such as brewing beer, farming, algae, making soap. To me small really is beautiful and I want to know more. I am Jackson co-host and milk and Hummus employee. I'm currently a computer science student at Georgia State, and after working the past five years in Las Vegas doing interior design, I started my journey a year ago in food and beverage. My name's Kristen. I've been with Milk and Hummus for a couple years now. I am the kitchen manager and recipe developer. I grew up in rural central Illinois where there are no stoplights and where the tractors roam freely. My background is in biology and healthcare. I love gardening. But I got lured into food and I have been working in the [00:03:00] food industry as a professional baker and chef for about a decade now. Coming along with the ride. Thanks. Great to have you along. So we want to invite all of you listeners to come along with us as we find out together. Yeah, we're looking forward to you having good conversations with farmers, lowering a bits, and we definitely want you to come along for the ride because the Midwest has a lot to offer. It does. It does. Absolutely. We're in the shadow of the East coast and the West coast, so we've gotta showcase something we have, and farming is one of the highlights of the Midwest. The bread basket. Farmland is like how we're recognized. Yeah. And we invite you to submit your questions, comments, inquiries, and all the above to tangled [email protected]. Is that milk and honey? It is milk and hummus. And please like and share. Come on. We'll see you next week.