hearst ranch

Two women who know the ins-and-outs of the Colorado food scene sat down with Hannah Fordin to talk about their participation in Slow Food Nations.

Sarah Palki is the Senior Marketing Manager Community Engagement and Events at Whole Foods Market for the Denver area. She talks about the sourcing standards of Whole Foods, and getting to work with incredible producers like Hearst Ranch.

Lentine Alexis is the Culinary Director of Cured Boulder, a small shop focused on preserving a personal connection to food. Cured offers cheeses, charcuterie, wine, beer, catering, a café, and grocery items. Lentine talks about her forthcoming cookbook, written for active appetites and whole-foods enthusiasts, that will be published in the spring of 2021 with Roost Books/Random House.

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Our Moderator Emily gives hard-hitting stories of food in the news to our panelists and they discuss their attitudes and opinions in our Weekly Baste Segment. This week we discuss feeding your "mother," Jewish foods, the future of hyper-local, Notre Dame Cathedral and spirit energies! Our guests for The Weekly Grill are Joe Carroll, Brian Kenny and Eric Kos!

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Some of the people that have been a part of the Good Food movement from the very beginning join us to talk about where the organization started and where it's going next (2020 is the 10 Year Anniversary of the Good Food Foundation).

Brian Kenny of Hearst Ranch kicks us off with his hot take of the Good Food Mercantile and speaks to the importance of passion in building a small food business, but also the strategies involved with pricing your product effectively and reaching economies of scale.

We're thrilled to welcome long-time supporters of HRN, the women behind Cowgirl Creamery! Sue Conley, Amanda Parker, and Peggy Smith sit down to reflect on the early days of Good Food and talk about the growth of their cheese-making business, which is favorite among many in the Bay Area.

Finally, we host a conversation between Louisa Conrad of Big Picture Farm (a small goat dairy in Southern Vermont that makes goats' milk caramels) and Luke Schmueker of Shacksbury Cider. Louisa talks about the unique ethos of Big Picture Farm, such as the reason why their goats live in their family units for their full lifespan, why they chose to self-distribute their caramels, and what's in store for visitors to the farm!

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Carrie Balkcom Is the Executive Director of the American Grassfed Association. AGA is the National, multispecies entity organized to protect and promote Grassfed and pasture based farmers and ranchers. AGA is the leader in pasture based production and the oldest grassfed certification in the United States. AGA certifies ruminants and dairy.

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It's a California invasion! Brian Kenny of Hearst Ranch, and long time HRN supporter, shares the latest news from the ranch, including the fact that Hearst was awarded supplier of the year for the Southern Pacific Region for Whole Foods Market. We're also joined by Katherine Spiers, the podcaster behind Smart Mouth. You can catch Katherine alongside Cathy Erway and Sari Kamin at the Food Writers' Workshop How to Make a Food Podcast panel.

Our theme song is “Suns Out Guns Out” by Concord America.

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This special episode of Heritage Radio Network On Tour brings you the latest news on the California Wildfires that continue to burn throughout parts of Napa, Sonoma, Calistoga and Santa Rosa. We have updates from winemaker Robert Sinskey, Brian Kenny of Hearst Ranch, and more.

“We need to focus on climate change and educate people to vote the environment. It needs to be the number one issue for all eligible voting citizens. The world has bigger problems than just the wine industry and these fires. We need intelligent, savvy politicians who will make climate change their top priority and we need to put others on notice that the world has moved beyond fossil fuel and chemical farming. I have said for years that vineyards are the canary in the coal mine. What we are experiencing now is what’s in store for the rest of world if we don’t move on from this carbon based economy.” – Robert Sinskey

Next, we take a look at some of the conditions that led to these fires. The New York Times published an article addressing the factors that made this wildfire season so deadly. Years of drought were followed by record amounts of rainfall, which spurred new plant growth, and then followed by months of extreme heat that withered the new growth and turned it into more tinder. Autumn winds from the northeast, known as diablo winds, began blowing through the region over the weekend at speeds of 70 miles an hour or more. It’s unknown what sparked the fires at this time, but state officials are looking into the possibility that downed power lines are one of the causes.

As of Tuesday, October 10th at around 6pm EST there are over a dozen wildfires raging throughout Northern California. The fires are concentrated in the wine and agricultural centers of the state in Napa and Sonoma Counties, where 12% of the state’s grapes are grown. On this episode we are providing up to date information on the impact this disaster is having on the residents of this region and how it is affecting the area’s food and wine producers. We are joined on the phone by Brian Kenny of Hearst Ranch and Adam Mariani from Scribe Winery to get their local perspectives and reports.

Scribe Winery issued this statement on Tuesday afternoon:

"We are heartbroken by the devastation the wildfires have caused to both the Sonoma and Napa Valley. We have been up for the last two nights working alongside the incredible Cal Fire and the local fire departments to keep the fire at bay. It was a very close call. If not for them this place we have called home for over a decade would be gone. We are also so thankful to the community and our friends for coming out to help over the last few days. Although Arrowhead Mountain is scorched, we are so grateful that the Hacienda and the other buildings have been spared. We are incredibly fortunate and appreciate the messages of love and support. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people who were not so lucky. It's beyond devastating."

The full personal, economic, and environmental impact of this devastating natural disaster will likely not be known until the fires have been controlled. HRN On Tour will be keeping you up to date on how the fires are affecting our food and wine producers and how you can help those in need. We will continue our coverage in a special segment of this week’s HRN Happy Hour, Thursday evening at 5pm, where we will be joined by more voices of Northern California’s food world.

*Map Data © Google 2017.

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