The Business of Food with Steve Alexander

A farmer — let’s call him Old McDonald, because we do not know his name or much else about him other than he farms in Kentucky — was prepping a field to plant corn. He had plowed and disked and as he was walking the field, expecting he might find an arrowhead or some other relic that had worked its way back to the surface. His eye caught something glittering in the sunlight. In the audio clip below, Chip Polston, producer and host of Kentucky Life on Kentucky PBS affiliate KET, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander what happened after the farmer found one gold coin, then another, and another, and nearly 800 more Civil War-era coins. It became known as “The Great Kentucky Hoard” and Polston and his team put together a half-hour special about the anonymous, and now wealthy, farmer.

In the audio clip below, Amundsen High School teacher Andrew Breen tells WGN’s Steve Alexander dozens of students have turned out for the Seeds of Change Garden Club since it was started last fall. The school has a huge campus of mostly lawn that needed some TLC. Students, with a variety of reasons for joining the club, spent their spare time–even on weekends–eradicating invasive species, planting native varieties to help feed pollinators and wildlife (as well as some that are edible by humans), and building planter boxes for tomatoes and other classics. Breen, one of three sponsors of the club with fellow teacher Todd Johnson and parent Jim Javenkoski, says Seeds of Change club members are slowly transforming the campus into a much friendlier place for the environment and climate. The community benefits, too, with a Native Plant Sale on June 1st, and giveaways during the summer of the veggies and fruit raised by the students.

When Prairie Farmer Magazine posted notice of its “Favorite Farm Dog Contest,” Devin Bollman and Dalton Johnston decided they’d send in photos and a story about Kay, their one-and-a-half year old border collie. After all, she had become so good at rounding up chickens and cattle on the couple’s Cass County farm where they raise Shorthorn cattle that she was doing the work of a couple of farm hands. She was a natural from the beginning, a born prodigy, Dalton told Prairie Farmer. “She never had any training, her herding instincts were immediate.” In the audio clip below, Devin tells WGN’s Steve Alexander more about Kay, including how she got her name.

Chicagoans have long loved their Italian Beef and the iconic sandwich gained worldwide popularity from the TV series “The Bear.” Years before the TV show debuted, a suburban chain, Beef Shack, upped the ante with its Cheezy Beef version of the sandwich served on fresh garlic bread buns. In the audio clip below, Beef Shack CEO Daniel Perillo tells WGN’s Steve Alexander some of the secrets to the chain’s success, which includes a recently opened sixth Chicagoland location in Oswego. Three more stores are planned for this year in Glen Ellyn, North Aurora and Crystal Lake. Perillo says Beef Shack’s philosophy has always been to keep the menu small with custom rolls from Chicago’s Turano Bread that are baked fresh daily, and fries that are fresh cut right in front of the customer and fried immediately before being served. He says all sandwiches are made fresh, nothing is frozen. In fact, there are no freezers in the restaurants. Beef Shack is family owned and operated with seven family members involved. Dan Perillo founded the restaurant in 2012 after a long career in the food service industry, including 10 years as president of Rosati’s Pizza.

Sumaiya Vahora and Humera Roaf were teaching at the same Chicago school when they started sharing their dreams. Sumaiya wanted to own a bakery. Humera wanted to own a business that gives back to the community, especially women who were trying to enter or re-enter the workforce. Sumaiya began baking custom cakes at home while balancing a teaching job and three young children. She’d get them to bed by 9 or 10 p.m., bake until three a.m., then grab a few hours of sleep until it was time to start the day again. In 2021, they pooled their dreams together and in August of that year, in the height of the pandemic, they opened Sweet Reserve Bakery in Lombard. In the audio clip below, the ladies tell WGN’s Steve Alexander that with everything locked down, they improvised and found a big market in selling cake jars — just what it sounds like, cakes in jars — that people would use as a way to celebrate birthdays, etc., but still avoid possible transmission of COVID. The cake jars kept them and their dreams afloat and post-pandemic, Sweet Reserve has become a favorite of people who enjoy the fusion of eastern flavors (Sumaiya is from India, Humera’a family is from Pakistan), with all ingredients made from scratch. Their biggest seller is Ras Malai Tres Leche, a cake that celebrates the Latino dessert tradition with a Pakistani flavor twist. Defying the doubts of many people who said the two were crazy to leave their jobs and start a bakery, especially in a pandemic, Sweet Reserve has done so well in Lombard, the partners are expanding to Skokie. There’s a grand opening at 3 p.m. on May 10th at 4845 Oakton Street. More locations are in the plans for this year, as is a 501(c)(3), Sweet Reserve Foundation, where Humera and Sumaiya will continue their efforts to help women in need.

The Instagrammable tulips in the medians of Michigan Avenue are there by design. The chief designer is Kris Sorich, the Senior Landscape Architect at CDOT, the Chicago Department of Transportation. In the audio clip below, she tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that each July, she decides what colors of tulips she wants to see bloom the following March and April, the bulbs are ordered from the Netherlands, and in November, they’re planted by A Safe Haven, a non-profit with a job training program for the homeless and veterans. Sorich says if the weather cooperates, there will be three magnificent blooms: early, mid, and late. As May now approaches, the late bloom is about to begin. After the show’s over, the folks at A Safe Haven go back and remove the plants. She says the bulbs are given to the Chicago Community Growers Association, which sponsors a tulip bulb giveaway on the West Side. And about Ms. Sorich’s familiar name: Yes, she hears all the time about how much her name sounds like that of Chicago football legend Chris Zorich.

Farming is hard. Starting a farm from scratch is nearly impossible. Zemua Baptista dreamed of farming — something his father did in his native Angola. He says he “carpet farmed” as a boy, dreaming someday of being a real farmer. A state champion wrestler in Friend, Nebraska, where his father was a Methodist minister, Baptista went on to wrestle at Iowa State University for a year, then three years at the University of Nebraska. All the while, he was making farming plans. With backing from his parents and loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, he bought a piece of land and erected eight barns in which he raises broilers. That was in 2019, the same year Costco decided to get into the chicken production business. It set up its own feed mill, hatchery, and slaughter plant in Nebraska, and contracted nearby farmers like Baptista to raise over 100 million birds each year, all under the name Lincoln Premium Poultry. In the audio clip below, Zemua tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about the transition from college wrestler to chicken farmer. And, he’s a rare bird himself: one of only 14 Black farmers in Nebraska.

Vivent Health / TPAN is hosting its annual fundraiser Dining Out For Life Chicago on Thursday, April 25. In the audio clip below, Lorraine Hayes of TPAN tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about some of the 20 restaurants who have committed a percentage of their profits to TPAN, which helps people living with HIV to stay housed, get their HIV medications, and find culturally competent HIV care. She tells how HIV/AIDS, which was a death sentence a generation ago, has become manageable with medication, and TPAN helps make sure those in need get the medication. Hayes says she was drawn to this work when she began learning of the outsized impact of HIV on Black and Brown communities. On April 25, the simple act of dining out at some of Chicago’s favorite restaurants becomes a meaningful act of support, making a significant difference in the lives of those in need. New to the group of restaurants this year is one of Chicago’s favorite taco joints, Taylor’s Tacos on Taylor Street.

Chicago’s and WGN’s very own Orion “Big O” Samuelson is marking a milestone birthday on March 31st. It was 90 years ago on that date that “Little O” bounced into the world. He chose a spring blizzard to make his entrance on his family’s dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin. The doctor wasn’t able to get to the farm, so a great aunt guided Orion into the world. She did a good job because Orion grew up to become the premier farm broadcaster in America, spending more than 60 years on the air at WGN Radio and TV, advocating for the men and women of the world’s most essential industry. In the audio clip below, Orion tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about the keys to a long life, which involve lutefisk and lefse, as well as fermented by-products of grain. And he is treated to a special birthday song from his former colleagues at WGN.

When Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid announced on a podcast that Taylor Swift had made homemade Pop Tarts for the offensive line, the marketing team at Kellanova that promotes the brand knew they had been handed a gift. In the audio clip below, Sarah Reinecke, VP of Marketing, Portable Wholesome Snacks / Pop-Tarts at Kellanova tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that her team seized the opportunity, taking out an ad in the Kansas City Star telling Taylor that if she shared her recipe, Kellanova would double its donation to a KC food bank. Her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce, posted about it. And Taylor? “We’re still waiting,” says Reinecke. Meanwhile, Pop-Tarts is having a moment, again, in the spotlight. Not only being mentioned in the same sentence as Taylor Swift, but the 60-year-old brand continues to crank out revenue for Kellanova, and the recent college bowl game sponsored by Pop-Tart — featuring a five-foot-tall strawberry Pop-Tart that the winning team ate. The New York Times opined that “Pop-Tarts Bowl won the internet” with that stunt.