Mighty Fine Farm & Food

Drink to your health - literally - at LIFEbar Louisville, located inside of Rainbow Blossom's Lexington Road location. LIFEbar is an all organic and local produce juice bar, started by Chase Barmore in 2010 after he realized that a plant-based diet cured him of long-time skin ailments. His now wife, Jamie, joined the team a few years later, and together they work to make juicing convenient and easy for folks who are interested. You can learn more about LIFEbar here: http://www.lifebarlouisville.com/

A phytocannabinoid by any other name would smell just as sweet! Phytocannabinoid is five-dollar word for the chemical compounds found in cannabis plants. Now, before you jump to conclusions, hear us out - Josh Hendrix of CV Sciences is here to explain. CV Sciences manufactures CBD+Oil, a non-psychoactive product with a variety of therapeutic uses, perfectly legal, and available in 1500 stores across the country (including your favorite local grocer, Rainbow Blossom). For more information about CV Sciences, visit: http://cvsciences.com/. For more information about CBD and how it works, visit: pubmed.gov.

It's almost Thanksgiving, which means its time for turkey - turkey raised on organic feed and non-GMO grain, like the kind grown on Elmwood Stock Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. This sixth-generation family farm is all organic and fully integrated to maintain quality and sustainability of the land and its products. In fact, Elmwood was recently awarded Master Conservationist status from National Resource and Conversation District of Scott County. Mac Stone called into the Mighty Fine podcast to talk about his family's operation, and programs that support young farmers in pursuit of organic farming. For more about Mac and his farm, visit: http://elmwoodstockfarm.com/

Who's in charge of YOUR microbiome? If you ask Joel Salatin, he'll tell you it shouldn't be the government. The self-described "Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer" joel Salatin phoned in to chat with the Mighty Fine crew from Polyface Farms in Swope, Virginia, where he raises livestock using holistic management methods of animal husbandry. Joel talked about his values, his practices, and how they work together to regenerate his family's land - hopefully for many years to come. Read more about Joel and his uniquely radical approach to farming here: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/.

Man's best friend deserves the best, and that includes the best food. That's why Karla Haas invented Rudy Green's Doggy Cuisine, named after a dog with a bleeding ulcer who she adopted in 2006. After home cooking Rudy's meals for a while, his ulcer disappeared, and Rudy lived longer than any vet had expected. Rudy Green's, Inc. became an all-natural premium dog food supplement using "people foods" like beef, pork, pasta, and potato - carefully frozen, packaged, and shipped directly to your door. To find out more about Rudy Green's, or to order the best meal your dog ever had, visit www.rudygreens.com.

Sherry Hurley founded Farm to Fork Food to combine her reputation as "the hostess with the most-ess" with her passion for local food from family farms and small producers. Here, she talks about the challenges of starting a catering business just before the 2008 stock market crash, the time she said "yes" to catering four events in one day (and why fried chicken made her regret it), and why supporting local farmers is built into the fabric of her business. To learn more about Farm to Fork Catering, visit www.farmtoforkfood.com.

Michael Twitty is a writer, food blogger, and chef - but he would tell you he's Black, Southern, and Jewish before any of those things. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he quickly realized both history and the present are not the same for everyone, and that traditional Southern cuisine is about much more than just food. His newest book, The Cooking Gene, traces Michael's personal culinary ancestry through the complicated history of the Deep South. You can order Michael's new book here: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062379290/the-cooking-gene

Farmer's markets were designed to bring farm fresh products closer to customers - but only if you live in certain neighborhoods or areas. Karyn Moskowitz is the founder of New Roots, Inc., a food justice organization that wants everyone in Louisville - and beyond - to have access to fresh foods. That's why they started Fresh Stops in food insecure neighborhoods, where families can have access to fresh produce for as little as $6/share. Karyn stopped by to talk with the Mighty Fine crew about the Fresh Stop model and the intricacies of food access in our city. For more info about New Roots and Fresh Stops, visit www.newroots.org.

The Mighty Fine crew is always learning, and in this episode, we're learning about hops - that they're fresh off the bind (not vine) for example; they're wet (not red); and that they're best fresh and straight from Veering Creek Farms in Smithfield, Kentucky. Purna Veer is an entrepreneur and farmer at Veering Creek who supplies hops to local Louisville breweries, like Apocalypse and Louisville Brewing Company. Here, Purna and his business parter, Michael, talk about how he made the leap from software to farming, and the potential of drinking local. For more information about Veering Creek Farm and their hops, visit their Facebook page.

Dream of a place where you can find bourbon, horses, and the freshest farm-to-table food? Look no further than Hermitage Farm, an agrotourism destination in Oldham County, Kentucky, created by Louisville entrepreneur Steve Wilson. A historic equine operation and the childhood home of Steve's wife, Laura Lee, Hermitage Farm seeks to honor Kentucky's agricultural heritage. Steve visits the Mighty Fine crew to talk about Kentucky's agricultural past and Hermitage Farm's future. Visit www.hermitagefarm.com for more information.

Native Louisvillian, classically trained chef, and expert butcher Loreal Gavin talks with the Mighty Fine crew about her path to butchery, her time as a reality TV star in LA, and how she creates new recipes. Her new cookbook, The Butcher Babe, is out April 25, and available on Amazon. Visit Loreal's website at: www.thebutcherbabe.com.

Those who drink coffee together, stay together - and no one knows this better than Mike and Medora Safai. They're the powerhouse couple behind Safai Enterprises, which roasts and produces coffee locally and ships worldwide. But the Safai's have more up their collective sleeves than just coffee, including hopes for an year-round indoor market in their Shelby Park warehouse. You can find out more about the Safai's and their enterprises at: https://safaicoffee.com/.

The Healing Place's Doug Scott says the restaurant business is all about conviviality - and that atmosphere, combined with late hours and a cash-based income, can lead many restaurant employees down the path of drug addiction. Doug also shares his own story of addiction and redemption through the food industry, and how restaurant owners can spot addiction in their employees

The Mighty Fine crew is lucky to host president of The Land Institute Fred Iutze while he was in town. The Land Institute is a nonprofit policy and research organization based in Salina, Kansas, that's dedicated to sustainable agriculture through the use of perennial crops. Kernza is an intermediate wheatgrass that doubles seed size and and increases seed production by 20 percent. It's already been made into beer and bread, and is expected to be available for commercial sale in the next decade. For more information about Kernza and The Land Institute, visit: https://landinstitute.org/.

Chef Space is Louisville's first kitchen incubator, run by president Chris Levinson. It offers a full commercial kitchen and coaching to fledgling businesses like Daddy Rich's, a new chicken wing venture run by Brian Allen and Roderick Martin in west Louisville, where 30 restaurants for a population of roughly 61,000 people. Chris, Brian, and Roderick join Jere and Summer today to talk about how Chef Space is helping to launch new food businesses and create entrepreneurs in Possibility City. Chef Space: http://www.chefspace.org/ Daddy Rich's: http://orders.imenu360.us/daddyRichs/

Rob Frederick and Mark Williams from Brown Forman join the Mighty Fine crew to talk sustainability in the spirit business. Brown Forman is based in Louisville, and one of the largest American-owned spirit companies. They take corporate responsibility seriously - whether its encouraging responsible alcohol consumption, creating a culture of inclusion among their staff, or ensuring that less than 1 percent of their waste goes to landfills. All their barrels are given to woodworkers or become garden containers in the company's backyard, and their spent grains are given to farmers or other compost operations. Visit https://www.brown-forman.com/environmental-sustainability/ for more information.

Where does your food come from? What is your food, exactly? These are questions many adults have never faced - let alone children. But Christine Brinkmann wants to change that. She's the Environmental Education Garden Coordinator at St. Francis School in Goshen, Ky., member of Slow Food Bluegrass, and food activist. Here, she shares her story from young vegetarian, to chef, to steward of 64 acres of land in Oldham County, and how she connects students to the land. For more information about St. Francis and their outdoor education programs, visit: http://stfrancisschool.org/student-life/extracurriculars/outdoor-education/.

Self-proclaimed "meat geek" Bob Hancock, along with partner Kit Garrett, run Louisville's premiere local craft butcher shop called Red Hog. Their products are sourced from local, sustainable, and ethical farmers - including their own signature Red Hog variety. The butcher shop also boasts a cafe space, serving cheese from Capriole Farms in Indiana, pizza, sandwiches, and beer on tap. For more information, visit: http://redhogartisanmeat.com/, or visit the shop at 2622 Frankfort Ave. in Louisville, Ky.

Independent natural food retailers have Corinne Shindelar and the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association to thank, in part, for being able to compete with large corporate food retailers who can often price them out of the market. The primary mission of Independent Natural Food Retailers Association - or INFRA - is to strengthen independent natural food retailers through shared resources with a concentration on operational improvement, marketing and joint purchasing. For more information on Corinne and INFRA, visit: http://www.naturalfoodretailers.net/.

Sam Mogannam is a chef, an author, and most important, the second-generation owner of Bi-Rite Family of Businesses in San Francisco. A vertically integrated company, Bi-Rite is focused on a neighborhood market that feeds its community with passion, love, and integrity, through all avenues of their business - including a market, a creamery & bakeshop, their own farms, and a catering menu. For more information about Bi-Rite Market, visit www.biritemarket.com.