Crop to Cuisine

Pueblo is a town on Colorado’s Front range, about 45 min south of Colorado Springs. The town is fairly small, home to a little more than 100,000 people. But over one weekend every September, this small town almost doubles in size. Almost 100,000 visitors from all over the country, some from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska, come to celebrate the annual Pueblo Chili and Frijoles Festival.

This week on Crop To Cuisine, we talk with internationally acclaimed Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. Haystack Mountain quickly worked its way onto the international culinary stage beginning in the late 90’s with an array of quality goat cheeses. Since then, they’ve grown by leaps and bounds, and continue to receive recognition all over the world.

Around the world, we face the worst food crisis in a decade. Many factors effect the cost and availability of food. But regardless of the political, social, and economic influences, we need to rethink the way we grow our food. If people around the world are going to feed themselves, we need to stop thinking in the past. This episode of Crop To Cuisine addresses somewhat new methods of farming & gardening.

Summertime is here, and that means a whole lot more time outdoors. More active lifestyles require changes in our diets. For some it means energy bars and Gatorade on long bike rides. But for those of us looking to support local food, what can we do? No need to fret. This episode of Crop To Cuisine will look at what we should be fueling our active lifestyles with, and how we can do so using local food and ingredients.

Crop To Cuisine takes a look at the foundations of sustainable agriculture and food from the food and wine industry, with a special focus on the food and wine in Colorado.

In this episode of Crop To Cuisine, we talk with the people from Midwest Permaculture about the roots of the movement, and the growing interest all around the world in permaculture. We are also joined by Sandy Cruz, a specialist in High Altitude Permaculture in the Rocky Mountain region, and learn how she is able to grow tomatoes at 9200 ft all year long.

The average person consumes around 260 eggs each year. And in the United States, most of those eggs come from the Midwest and California. Crop to Cuisine looks into what it takes to keep our food local - and when it comes to eggs - there are lots of options.

In this episode we will be visiting a small family "free range" egg farm. We will also be joined by Kelly Simmons. She is the Director for the Boulder Sustainability Education Center, and teaches people how to care for and raise egg laying hens in household backyards.

Localization of our food supply is one of the most critical ways we will improve the condition of our planet. There are many things we can be doing in the way of environmental sustainability. But none of them play as central a role in everyone's life as food. In this episode, we launch Crop To Cuisine onto the airwaves discussing the reasons that localization of our food supply is so important, including the historical context, environmental impacts, and even economic benefits. Our guests include Amy Trubek, PhD, Dawn Thilmany, PhD, and Jon Ash, Chef and Author.