The Lone Star Plate

Today we are talking about an exciting project. Cultivate is co-founded by brothers Nathan and Luke Heath with the mission to help people grow food.

Nathan Heath is my guest in this episode and he explains how Cultivate works.

Their products are FarmBoxes, which they help you install, educate you about growing food and help you choose vegetables according to the season.

We talk about the excitement and the relationship with food that we develop when we grow it ourselves.

You will hear how much food you can expect from a FarmBox, how to get started and what makes this project so valuable at this very moment.

Nathan also breaks down some farming myths, and gets me very excited about the developments in the local food movement. Enjoy our conversation!

Today we talk about regenerative agriculture with Travis Krause, the owner of Parker Creek Ranch and founder of The Pastoralist blog.

We learn the difference between the common or ‘linear’ agriculture, and regenerative agriculture which uses system thinking and holistic approach to growing food.

Travis’s ranch dates back to the 19th century, and we share some exciting stories from the history of Texas, and history of cattle ranches.

Travis talks about the business side of local farming, how to get started, and how to raise the awareness of consumers about the local farms.

Farmers have earned a spotlight in the Covid-19 pandemic, and the goal for all of us is to support local farms and build better connections with the food we are eating.

“If I can have a face to face conversation with a consumer about what we do on the farm, I bet they would buy my food.” – Travis Krause

Max Kunik is back on the show, and today we are talking about the best and most creative ways that restaurants and food businesses can create revenue streams right now.

Max is a great businessman, the owner of RPM Kitchens and Co-Founder of Taster’s Table Club.

He tells us about all the cool things he’s seen in the food industry in the last couple of months, but also what business owners perhaps could do, but are not doing.

From virtual cooking classes, selling family meals and expanding parking lots, to virtual farmer’s markets and restaurants’ promotion, we cover a lot of great ideas that can be helpful for the food industry to pivot right now.

Many changes are here to stay, and you’ll hear what other new things are coming in the near future, for the benefit of business owners and consumers.

Restaurants and food businesses are suffering right now.

We on our knees, and hundreds of thousands of people in Texas food industry are effectively unemployed.

The struggle is real, but here is how a customer like you can help back and give support to local food industry.

1. If you have an issue with a restaurant, give them an opportunity to fix it before going to social media and telling everyone what bad experience you had. No restaurant is perfect, especially in the situation we are currently in, but rest assured that whenever a problem shows up, they do their best to fix the issue immediately.
2. We need to have patience and understanding going both ways, to the restaurants and to the customers. There are many new safety standards and protocols, ordered by state, or the city, or the county. Restaurants are pivoting, and it’s hard for everybody, so let’s have patience.
3. Try to limit your modifications to the menu if possible. Respect new menu items, and don’t try to customize and order out of the menu, it’s not the time to do that. Try to be less picky than usual.
4. Support restaurants online. Let people know if you’re going to a place and have a good experience. Tell them where it’s at, the hours, take a picture. Food places need help with marketing. Spread the love for the place you’re passionate about.
5. Have your phone ready when you are doing pickup at the curb-side. Show up at the time that’s designated, park where they tell you, be available and follow the rules. We have to accommodate during this time.
6. Please respect any rules the establishment has in place and don’t cause a scene. Rules are there for a reason, and nobody is trying to bring you down or take away your rights. Restaurants have a legal obligation to impose some of the rules. And if you don’t agree, don’t eat there.
7. Order from the place directly and avoid delivery companies if possible. Delivery companies have huge commissions, and they charge both restaurants and you as a consumer. Restaurants work on small margins, and they are losing money or breaking even at best. So call the restaurant first and try to deal with them directly.
8. Change your expectations. Restaurants are not going to look and feel the same as before Covid-19.
9. If you have disposable money, spend it! Dine out, tip, buy extra food from the restaurants, go to farmers’ market, get stuff from all over, order for your family, send it as a gift. Spread the love right now if you have the ability to do that.
10. Support local. By local I mean Joe’s pizza place down the corner that doesn’t have any other location and is not part of a corporate chain. They need our support. McDonald’s is NOT a local business, and they will be fine anyway. Go to small places, food trucks, or local diners. These are the times when those local businesses need help.

My guest today is a Nashville based guitar player, singer-songwriter and podcaster Clint Wells.

Before the lockdown, Clint spent most of his time traveling the world playing guitar for wonderful bands and artists such as Rodney Atkins, Bob Schneider, Mindy Smith, Clare Dunn, Laura Bell Bundy and others.

He is also a songwriter with Rough Trade Publishing and a session multi-instrumentalist.

Besides playing and making music, Clint Wells is a co-host of two podcasts: I’m OK You’Re OK, I’m Not OK, You’re Not OK with Bob Schneider, and Metal Up Your Podcast with Ethan Luck.

In this interview, we talk about music industry, podcasting and food. Clint talks about keeping his eating routine on the road, his approach to veganism and other diet choices.

He is a sweet and genuine guy and I’ve really enjoyed this conversation about life and stuff. Let’s just hope he’ll be soon on the road again doing what he loves most.