Eat Your Heartland Out Heritage Radio Network

Join us for a deep dive into Iowa’s culinary culture with food historian, author, and Iowa storyteller Darcy Maulsby. We go beyond corn and pork tenderloins to explore everything from indigenous farming traditions to how the chop suey craze swept Des Moines in the early 20th Century.

As an Iowa Storyteller, Darcy believes anyone who eats has a connection to the things she’s passionate about, including food, farming, and history. Darcy writes about the food-to-fork connection for clients through her non-fiction books, including “A Culinary History of Iowa”, “Classic Restaurants of Des Moines and Their Recipes,” and "Iowa Agriculture: A History of Farming, Family and Food."

This episode is a personal one. I’m going to introduce you to my new TV series coming to public television stations nationwide starting in April. America The Bountiful aims to capture the nation’s cultural story by using food as a guide. I will be joined by the show’s director and fellow executive producer Jesse Roesler of Minneapolis-based Credo Nonfiction. And, expect some other special interviews with guests who have previously appeared on Eat Your Heartland Out and will now be featured in America The Bountiful.

Cheese is the star of this episode of the show. I speak with anthropologist and author Heather Paxson. Her book, The Life of Cheese: Crafting Food and Value in America, tells the cultural and economic story of cheese. Then I will introduce you to Andy Hatch, proprietor and master cheesemaker at Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin, for a front row seat to Farmstead Cheesemaking.

This show features two guests who are creating new culinary experiences in their respective Midwest communities and beyond. Meet Nikki Thompson Frazier, the founder of Sweet Encounter Bakery, which aims to create an inclusive dining experience for people with dietary restrictions. And, get to know Erin Carlman Weber, the founder, owner, and operator of All Together Now, a social gathering space in Chicago offering wine, cheese, and much more.

This episode features two guests who are journalists by trade, that forged a path as stewards of Midwestern storytelling. Meet James Norton, the editor and co-founder of the Heavy Table based in the Twin Cities; and Amanda Gajdosik, the founder of the Midwest Nice blog.

Meet Kim Laing, the Indiana woman behind the blog and podcast More Than Corn, as well as Staci Perry Mergenthal, creator of the Funeral Potatoes and Wool Mittens podcast and the Random Sweets blog.