America's Heartland
is made possible by....

They make up a small
part of our population,

but have a huge impact
on all of our lives.

They take business risks
that few others would tolerate

all on our behalf.

They're American farmers

who feed, fuel
and clothe the world.

Monsanto would like
to recognize them

for all they do
for the rest of us,

because ultimately our success
and everyone else's

depends on theirs.

....and by
the American Farm Bureau

Federation
- the voice of agriculture.

Hi, I'm Sarah Gardner.

When you're raising produce
that makes its way

to your dinner table,
you've got to act fast!

We'll take you to Michigan
to show you

how getting that green
from farm to your fork

is an extended family affair.

It's something farmers know
all to well:

if you're going to work
with the land,

you're going
to get your hands dirty.

Now not generally said
about gourmet chefs,

but Alabama chef Chris Hastings
knows all about

getting his hands dirty
down on the farm.

He's connecting farmers
and food lovers

one delicious dish at a time .

I'm Yolanda Vazquez.

We're heading for Maryland
to introduce you

to a young farmer
who's taking

a very direct approach in
getting his products

to the dinner tables
of consumers.

It's all coming up
on America's Heartland .

♪ You can see it in the eyes
of every woman and man ♪

♪ in America's Heartland
living close to the land. ♪

♪ There's a love
for the country ♪

♪ and a pride in the brand ♪

♪ in America's Heartland
living close, ♪

♪ close to the land. ♪

Sarah: As Americans
try to eat healthier,

produce plays a larger role
in our diets.

But if you've ever tried
to grow a garden,

you know how perishable
produce can be.

And for one Michigan
farm family,

that means moving fast
to get the crops

from their field onto your fork.

Sarah: Calling the Ruhlig farm
a family affair

is an understatement.

As the eldest son Robert
takes produce orders

from distributors in Detroit,
his mom Roseanne

and younger sister Tammy
ready fresh vegetables

for delivery
to wholesale markets

and grocery chains.

Dave: I now have two girls
and two boys.

And all four
of the family members

are all involved in agriculture.

Dave: Zucchini has been
one of the better crops

that we've grown this year.

Sarah: Dad Dave Ruhlig
is a fourth generation farmer.

He began working this land
in the southeast corner

of Michigan back in 1970.

As the Ruhlig family grew,
so did the farm.

The family tapped
into consumer demands

from regional supermarkets
for produce

that could go
from field to store

almost overnight.

Today the family,
along with hundreds of workers,

grows a multitude of crops.

Dave: Well, we start off
raising yellow summer zucchini

and squash.

And then we get into cucumbers.

We do a lot
of the cool weather crops

like cabbage
and broccoli

and cauliflower,
watermelons,

muskmelons,
and sweet corn.

Sarah: Each family member
oversees a different aspect

of the farming operation.

Youngest son Jason
is prepping the fields

with drip irrigation
for crops to be planted

in the spring.

He says the large workforce
makes it possible

to keep planting
and harvesting on track.

It also allows family members
to focus on new procedures

to improve productivity.

Jason: You don't get that
all the time

with hired employees.

They're not looking for ways
to always make things better.

They may do a fantastic job
doing what they're doing,

but they're not always looking
for good ways to improve

the business.

And that's what makes it nice
working with the family.

Sarah: At any moment,
you'll find family members

moving from oversight
on packing operations

to details on staffing
and plant safety.

Those delivery orders
handled by Robert

mean more
than 15 hundred truckloads

of produce
heading to market year round.

The farm produces
some 30 thousand tons of crops

each year.

And Robert sees his role
as critical

to meeting demands
from consumers.

Robert: At the end of the day,
you're always glad

that you're producing food
for people.

And if you can keep your focus
on the fact,

then you're supplying a need
that is probably

the most important profession
on the face of the earth.

Sarah: Oh,
and two other members

of the family:
older daughter Kris

runs the farm's front office
and her daughter Olivia

adds vocal support
when she's awake.

Since Michigan winters
can include months of snow

and freezing weather,
Dave extends his growing season

by starting seedlings
under glass.

Once the seedlings
are moved to open fields,

the greenhouses are used
for growing flower crops.

Dave:
It all starts out in Florida,

then goes to Georgia,
and then comes up here

to the North.

We in turn,
send our produce

down to Georgia and Florida
in the summer months.

Then in the winter months,
the stuff they raise

in Florida and Georgia
comes back to Michigan.

Sarah:
Juggling a myriad of crops

on a seasonal basis
has given the family

new insights
on the relationship

between
agriculture and consumers.

Robert sees it
as a cooperative effort:

farms responding
to the public interest

and the public
better understanding,

what it takes to put food
on their table.

Robert:
It should be a requirement

that they come to a farm
to learn about their food

and where it comes from.

And I think that if they did,
there'd be

a whole different perception
about the value of the food

and why it's grown,
why it costs,

what it does,
and where it comes from.

As long
as we're talking produce,

those cucumbers and zucchini
you see in the supermarket

come from the same family
as pumpkins, watermelon,

and many types of squash.

And they're juicy!

Cucumbers have some
of the highest water content

of any vegetable.

John: More than ever before,
consumers are trying

new flavors
when it comes to meals

on the table.

If that sounds like you,
let's try some vegetables

you may not have known existed.

Ron: It's gorgeous up here.

You'll never see anything
in the water

than what belongs there.

John: The north coast of Maine
is the scenic backdrop

for a rare kind of harvest.

Ron: You see that nice honey
color right through there?

John: The crop here is seaweed.

And for nearly two decades now,
Ron Hinkle has made a living

carefully pruning the plants
in these waters.

Ron: You think of it
as kind of like a garden.

The more I cut it
and keep it clean

and nipped up,
the better the seaweed is

every year!

It gets better and better.

John: It comes and goes
by names like digitata ,

laver,
dulse,

and bladder rack .

As many
as eight types of seaweed

are native to this stretch
of the Atlantic coast.

Ron: Last year we harvested
100-thousand pounds

of this stuff
to get 10-thousand dry pounds

at the end.

That's a lot of work too,
you know?

John:
Hinkle does the heavy lifting,

but it was the failing health
of this man's wife

that turned these sea vegetables
into a business.

Shep: We discovered it one day
at a picnic down by the beach.

John: Seaweed was one
of the dietary changes

suggested for his wife.

But imported seaweed was costly.

So Shep Erhart took a chance
on sea vegetables

from the waters of Maine.

Shep: Luckily somebody said,
"Well, change your diet

and see what happens."

And we started eating seaweed,
and it made all the difference.

John: This admitted
hippie of the sixties

pioneered drying techniques,
and sold his first batches

by word of mouth
in brown paper bags.

As the business grew,
Maine Coast Sea Vegetables

found itself shipping seaweed
across the U.S.

and overseas.

Shep: But the seaweed
became more of a passion

when we realized
a lot of people in the cities

don't have access to this.

They really appreciate it
and find it a vital part

of their diet.

John: Asian countries
have touted the benefits

of seaweed
for thousands of years.

And many
who consume sea vegetables

claim significant
health benefits.

As the seaweed sold,
the company began exploring

other options
to make their sea-based

food products
palatable to a wider audience.

This is kelp
mixed with sesame seeds

and brown rice syrup.

They call it
a kelp crunch bar .

This is apple wood
smoked seaweed.

Think beef jerky!

And then you have
seaweed seasoning,

a low sodium
salt shaker from the sea.

Shep:
Kelp in soups is a no-brainer.

It adds this richness.

And if you're cooking
a bean soup or even a stew,

put a little bit
of kelp in there.

It's like putting pork
in your beans.

John:
As in any farming operation,

producers pay attention
to sustainability.

It's a lesson
Ron Hinkle learned

the hard way
after one

of his early harvests.

Ron: We over cut it
'cause it was just too easy.

Whoa,
there's a big bunch over here!

Let's cut it!

The next year,
nothing

(and it was six
or seven years before it)

ever come back.

John:
Creating the right environment

for future harvests
demands cooperative efforts

from everyone
who works these waters.

Lee: It's a common myth
that fishermen

aren't interested
in sustainability.

And we've been able to use
word of mouth

and actually create
a sustainable harvest

up and down the coast
of a lot of different varieties

of seaweed.

John:
At Maine Coast Sea Vegetables ,

sustainability is a pursuit
by sea and by land.

Shep:
That's a pretty nice piece,

nice and clear.

John: Erhart says his desire
to provide quality

user-friendly foods
demands a balance with goals

that focus on people
and the planet.

Shep: It's true!

We sell to Europe
and California.

But that's not
our long-term strategy.

We'd really like to be feeding
our local people

and keep our product
as local as we can

because it makes
a lot of dollars and sense.

Harvesting plants from the sea
has a long history.

In some parts of Asia,
sea vegetables

have been food staples
for more than a thousand years.

Dietary choices
in some religions

also furthered their use.

And since they grew
in a sea salt environment,

they could be
dried and stored

for lengthy periods of time.

I'm Yolanda Vazquez.

Still ahead,
a young couple in Maryland

reaches out to consumers
by taking food

from farm to fork.

I'm Jason Shoultz.

Still ahead,
we'll take you to Alabama

to meet a chef
who is as comfortable

on the farm
as he is in the kitchen!

♪♪

Jason: Well, mares eat oats
and does eat oats

and according
to mounds of mounds of research,

people
should probably eat them, too.

I mean,
there's got to be a reason

why this guy on the box
is smiling, right?

Oats have been shown
to lower cholesterol,

reduce the risk
of heart disease and diabetes,

and are a good source
of fiber and nutrients.

And we humans
aren't the only ones

benefiting
from these tasty grains.

That's because
about 85% of the U.S. oat crop

is used for livestock feed.

Horses and cattle
love the stuff!

The scientific name for oats
is Avena Sativa .

Once the tall,
grassy crop is harvested,

the oats are cleaned
and then roasted

for a more distinctive flavor.

Next the oats
are steamed and hulled.

But because the kernel is soft,
the bran and germ

are kept intact.

And that's why oatmeal
is such a great source

of nutrients.

If you are perusing the aisles
of your local grocery store,

you have lots of choices
for oat products.

Couple of choices:
oak groats are the whole grain

with only the husks removed.

Steel cut or Irish Oats
are groats

that have been chopped up.

Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
have been flattened

by a series of rollers
to help speed up

the cooking time.

Quick Cooking Oats
are rolled even thinner

than Old Fashioned
and take about 5 minutes

to cook.

And Instant Oatmeal
has been pre-cooked and dried.

So all it needs is hot water
to re-hydrate.

Okay, oatmeal:
low in fat,

high protein,
and lowers cholesterol!

What more do you want
from a breakfast food?

Well, how about skin care?

Ancient civilizations
actually used oatmeal

for a whole host
of skin problems.

And today you can find
oatmeal in a lot of products

on the shelf.

It's good for you
both on the inside and out.

Yolanda:
There are a large variety

of farming operations
in the United States,

large farms and ranches
whose thousands of acres

deliver grain
and livestock products.

But there are also
small farmers whose owners

have a very personal approach
to reaching consumers.

And here in Maryland,
one young couple

is doing just that.

♪♪

Yolanda: Ted Wycall
and his wife Julia

consider themselves
at the forefront of a movement.

Ted: It's an exciting time
to be a farmer.

I really feel like right now,
at this time

in the agricultural industry,
that there's sort of

like a renaissance going on.

Yolanda: The Maryland couple
is one of thousands

of Americans
just starting out in farming.

Julia: It's a lot of work.

It's definitely a lot of work.

There's always something to do.

Ted:
Enjoy your new surroundings!

Yolanda: It's a career change
they see as

a personal approach
to life and the land.

Yolanda: We're trying to grow
as many different things

as we eat here on the farm.

But we do it
not just for ourselves.

We do it
for our surrounding community.

Yolanda: Ted's experience
as a farmer was limited.

He worked for a time
on a farm in Montana.

But the opportunity
to farm his family land

got him thinking.

Ted: I moved back
to Maryland from Montana.

The farm was here.

And I decided
that it was a place

that I would want to live.

And then once I moved here,
after living here,

I decided
that it was a place

that I wanted to work and farm.

Yolanda: The Wycall's decided
on organic farming

as their first venture.

Eighty acres were readied
for crops,

and the couple incorporated
an additional 40 acres

of timber.

It's a model of sustainability
often referred to

as agricultural renaissance .

Ted: That's kind of like
the model that when, well,

it's all over the world,
really!

But it's kind of,
I would say,

what's considered
like peasant farming.

Yolanda:
The Wycall's first crops

were vegetables.

Ted: This is one
of our four generations

of our fall planting
of broccoli and cabbage.

Yolanda:
They soon added livestock

by rotating cattle,
pigs,

chickens
and goats

from their pasture to the woods.

Ted: We'll take an area
of the forest,

open it up,
cut some trees,

sunlight comes in,
and vegetation starts to grow.

And then we put
the goats in there,

and they kind of hit
a lot of the saplings.

And then we put
the pigs in there,

and they do what they do.

And what ends up happening
is that you have

a really strong re-growth
of oak saplings,

certain trees
that can withstand

the impact from the animals.

Yolanda: As the animals graze,
manure adds nutrients

to the soil.

Ted:
What I'm kind of striving to do

is to have a closed-loop system
where it will be, you know,

a completely self-contained,
little feedback cycle here.

Yolanda: Like her husband,
Julia was new to farming.

But her background did include
food preparation

and presentation.

Julia: So I'm able to bring that
to the farming,

to like the markets
and speaking to customers

about
Oh, how do you cook this?

Now I have
a greater appreciation

for what is really
good food and how does it grow.

Yolanda: Beans are on
the harvest schedule

this summer afternoon.

Ted: Any of those
are fine,

any variety.

Yolanda: The Wycall's crops
make their way

to farmers markets
and local restaurants.

They've also established
a CSA,

Community Supported Agriculture,
where customers

buy a share
of the produce being raised.

A small number of employees
work the Wycall farm.

Each crop brings new lessons
in getting more from the earth

and provides new recruits
for a future in farming.

Jeff: We have farmers
that are fifty-nine,

sixty years old.

And they have no one ready
to take over their farms.

And the only way
that's going to turn around

is if young people
who are interested in it

decide that it really
is a possibility.

It really is an option
to come out

and farm for a living.

Yolanda:
The opportunity to realize

a personal dream
is part of the attraction

on this and other small farms,
planting the seeds

for the future
one row at a time .

Ted: It's really exciting
to be part of that,

to be part of this national
(if not even worldwide)

kind of realization
of just how productive

and sustainable
small farms can be

and to be a young farmer
just getting started

when this whole movement
is just getting started.

About a third of Maryland's land
is used for farming.

Apples and peaches
are popular picks.

And much of the crop
is shipped

up and down
the eastern seaboard.

You'll find lots of members
of the equine family

in the Old Line State.

Maryland's
Department of Agriculture

claims more horses
per square mile

than any other state
in the nation.

♪♪

Hi, I'm Paul Robins.

And here's something
you may not have known

about agriculture.

Celery is one of those items
in the produce department

that really gets
very little respect.

It's not as flashy
as the tomato.

And frankly,
it's a little bland.

But let me give you
a little history

on these stalks,
and you may change your mind.

Most folks use celery
in a salad,

stir a bloody Mary with it,
or just have fun

making that crunching sound
when they eat it.

But the ancient
Greeks and Romans

considered celery
to have medicinal properties.

And the French and Italians
used it in love potions

in the 17th century.

Celery came to America
in the 1850's.

And by the turn
of the 20th century,

the Sears Roebuck Catalogue
was offering a nerve tonic

made from celery.

California and Florida
grow the lion's share

of celery in the U.S.

And the average American
eats about ten pounds of celery

a year.

That's a lot of stalks!

Back to those
medicinal properties.

Celery is rich in B vitamins
and high in Vitamin C.

And there's a royal tie
to these green stalks.

When they opened the tomb
of King Tut in Egypt,

they found a shroud
adorned with garlands

of wild celery.

Some vitamins for the afterlife!

Jason: It's something
farmers know all too well:

if you are going
to work the land,

you're going
to get your hands dirty.

It's not generally said
about gourmet chefs.

But Alabama chef Chris Hastings
knows all about

getting his hands dirty
down on the farm.

He's connecting farmers
and food lovers

one delicious dish at a time.

Jason:
Think of chef Chris Hastings

like a doctor
making house calls.

Today he's visiting
the Jones Valley Urban Farm .

Chris: Good morning, Edwin!

How are you doing buddy?

Edwin: Good,
how about you?

Chris: Great!

Jason: In the heart
of Birmingham, Alabama,

this agricultural enterprise
uses vacant land

to grow 80 different types
of fruits and vegetables.

Today executive director
Edwin Marty

shares some of his
baby arugula with Chris.

Edwin:
This was sort of an experiment

that we threw together
this winter.

Jason: Chris buys produce
from Valley Urban Farm

which in turn
uses it for educational programs

about food and farming
for city kids.

Edwin: So his continued support
buying from us week after week

after week
throughout the entire history

of Jones Valley Farm
has made it possible

basically for us
to continue to grow,

for us to continue
to have income,

to turn that over
to our education programs.

Jason:
Using locally grown produce

when he can
is part of Chris Hastings'

culinary philosophy.

Chris says it allows him
to create tastier,

seasonal dishes.

Chris: You get to taste the food
right there on the spot.

You get to know
about their history,

who they are,
and it's just important

to get to know those people.

Jason: And there's also
a social benefit:

dollars stay right here
in the local economy,

helping out farmers
like Arlie Powell

at Chris 'next stop,
Petals of the Past Nursery .

Chris: Good morning, Mr. Powell!

Arlie: Good Morning!

Jason: Today
Arlie is harvesting grapes.

Arlie: And when this
gets this color,

you can take that fruit
and twist it one way

and twist it the other
and it will snap loose.

Chris: How about that!

Look at that!

Arlie:
And you don't break the skin!

Jason:
Providing local restaurants

with fresh fruit
in the spring and summer

helps this nursery
have a stable year-round income.

Arlie: Restaurants are not going
to take humongous amounts

of fruit
on any given day

because of the demands
of the restaurant,

what they need.

But when you supply them
fresh fruit

(and you can do it twice a week,
and you have

several restaurants involved)
then you reach a point

where it's
monetarily of a advantage

for you to do that.

Plus,
the people who eat

in the restaurants see our name
many times on some of the menus.

And they inquire
as to where the fruit

came from.

And we have
any number of visitors

that have been
to Chris' restaurant

that come to our place
as a result of that.

Jason: Chris Hastings
is the owner and chef

at Hot and Hot Fish Club
in Birmingham.

He's been serving up
a seasonal menu here

since the restaurant opened
in 1995.

Of course,
not everything served here

is grown locally.

That would be too limiting.

But he maintains relationships
with around 200 farmers

in the southeast U.S.
to buy as close to Birmingham

as possible.

Chris: We're kind of in between
two seasons.

We're leaving summer,
and we're coming into fall.

So we have....

....we're living in both worlds.

We'll take the arugula
from Jones Valley ,

combine it with persimmons
from Petals from the Past

to make a light salad.

Jason: Hastings shares
his culinary philosophy

beyond the walls
of this restaurant.

You can also find him
hosting tours

for foodie tourists
along Florida

so-called forgotten coast
in the panhandle region.

Guests get
to spend the week

harvesting clams,
oysters and fresh produce.

And then Chris prepares a feast
on the night of their adventure.

It's an opportunity
for him to reconnect

to his roots.

Chris: I go back to the time
when I was a creek boy

for the family.

I'd go out every day.

I'd crab,
I'd fish,

I'd dig clams and shrimp.

And bring it back home
to the table.

My aunts would prepare the food
that I'd caught

along with
the beautiful vegetables

from the roadside stands.

Jason: Back in Birmingham,
the food is prepared,

and the restaurant patrons
have arrived.

Chris:
We have baby Japanese eggplants.

Jason:
And when the chef visits diners

to check on their meals,
it's also an opportunity

to share the story
beyond the dish.

John:
The small farmers are the ones

that's really winning from this.

This and the chefs,
and of course the people

at the end that win,
are the people

who get to eat the good food.

Jason: For this southern chef,
a lifelong passion for cuisine

has successfully paired
with his philosophy

on food and community.

Chris:
We've become an important part

of the food community
and the community

at large here.

You know,
we feel very lucky!

Jason: Of course,
the diners here

are the ones who get
the best reward

from this menu with meaning!

Jason: And that's going to do it
for this time.

Thanks for traveling
the country with us

on this edition
of America's Heartland .

John: We're always glad
when you join us.

And remember,
there's much more

on America's Heartland
on our website

including video
from today's stories.

Just go to
americasheartland-dot-org.

We'll see you next time.

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of this broadcast,

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