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Conscious Cuisine: Husband-and-Wife Master Sommeliers Andrew McNamara and Emily Pickral on How Climate Change Affects Wine Apr 21, 2022

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In our conversation, the Tampa couple share how climate change and the pandemic changed consumers' drinking habits, their favorite local restaurants for wine and advice for aspiring sommeliers.

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Gabrielle E.W. Carter & Dr. LaDonna Butler on Food as Rest & Resistance Apr 14, 2022

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This week, we’re bringing you something a bit different. Collards After Dark is an intimate evening of food and conversation that precedes the annual Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival.

At this year’s event, Dalia facilitated a discussion between Gabrielle E. W. Carter and Dr. LaDonna Butler about the healing power of African-American culinary traditions. We also discussed seed-keeping as a form of resistance, the ritual of drinking potlikker and much more.

Ms. Carter is a cultural preservationist and co-founder of Tall Grass Food Box. It’s a community-supported agriculture model that sources produce from Black farmers in her home state of North Carolina. She also hosts community meals on her family’s homestead in Apex, N.C. You may have seen in the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America.

Dr. Butler is founder and executive director of The Well for Life, a St. Petersburg space dedicated to mental wellness and self-care. She’s also a therapist and licensed mental health counselor.

The event was recorded on the evening of Feb. 18, 2022, in the garden of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg, before a diverse audience. The evening began with a screening of The Seeds We Keep, Carter’s short film about seed preservation and African-American land ownership.

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Conscious Cuisine: Chef Justin Timineri of Fresh From Florida Offers Ideas for Eating What's in Season Apr 07, 2022

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Chef Timineri's job is to help consumers understand what’s growing in Florida and how to incorporate it into our diets. From a test kitchen in Tallahassee, Justin creates recipes and cooking videos showcasing Florida produce, seafood and beef.

In this interview with The Zest Podcast, he shares some of his favorite summertime meal ideas, offers advice for cooking with kids and recounts how he won the 2006 Food Network Challenge Great American Seafood Cook-off. He also issues a challenge to help home cooks meal-plan like a chef.

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How 4 Rivers Smokehouse Became King of the Barbecue Mar 31, 2022

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4 Rivers Smokehouse regional manager Nick West recounts the touching origin story, shares the latest barbecue trends and offers tips for your next cookout.

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Mermosa Founder Desiree Noisette Makes Wine—and History Mar 24, 2022

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Mermosa Wines is a mermaid-themed beverage company based in St. Petersburg, with a product line that includes ready-to-drink mimosas and other sparkling wines. The brand is sold in 16 states, available in stores like Walmart, Target, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Total Wine and others. Desiree Noisette is the company’s founder, president and "head mermaid.” That makes her Florida's first Black female winemaker. In this conversation, Desiree shares how she went from a law career to creating a line of beverages inspired by her ancestors. She also discusses the challenges of being a young woman of color in the wine industry.

Food friends in Tampa Bay, there are still a few tickets left for WUSF Public Media's outdoor dining event, The Longest Table. The event takes place on Thursday, April 7, along the downtown St. Pete waterfront.

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Conscious Cuisine: How to Choose Sustainable Seafood Mar 17, 2022

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Seafood is big business in Florida, with an annual economic impact of more than $400 million. That’s according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. So how do we make sure all this valuable seafood is sustainable? What are the best and worst fish to choose? The short answer is: It’s complicated. Here to offer guidance is Angela Collins. She’s a Florida Sea Grant Agent with the University of Florida IFAS Extension.

10 Tips for Cooking with Kids Mar 10, 2022

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It’s spring break season—the perfect time to slow down and teach the kids in our life a thing or two in the kitchen. But first, Wendy Wesley is here to teach us adults a thing or two about cooking with kids. Wendy is a registered and licensed dietician and nutritionist based in St. Petersburg. In addition, Wendy is a mom, and she teaches classes for home cooks of all ages.

Foodie friends in Tampa Bay, get your tickets for WUSF's outdoor dining event, the Longest Table. It's the evening of Thursday, April 7 in downtown St. Petersburg.

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How Plant City Became the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World Mar 03, 2022

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Plant City, in Hillsborough County, has bragging rights as the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. Its farms produce millions of berries each year. In fact, Hillsborough County, where Plant City is located, produces about 15 percent of the nation’s strawberries and nearly all of its winter strawberries, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. But this wasn’t always the case. Today, we’ll learn how a single event more than 100 years ago changed everything. I recently chatted with Jennifer Morgan. She’s a public relations and media representative for the Florida Strawberry Festival, which takes place March 3 to 13 in Plant City. Jennifer explains how strawberries—and the festival—became such big business.

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Conscious Cuisine: Rocky Soil Family Farm on How to Reconnect with Your Food Feb 24, 2022

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You could call Chris and Kiona Wagner trendsetters. In 2019, before the COVID pandemic forced all of us to reevaluate our priorities, the couple decided to make a big change. They moved from bustling South Florida to the sleepy town of Monticello, just outside of Tallahassee. That’s where the Wagners run Rocky Soil Family Farm.

They sell their fruits, vegetables, herbs and eggs at local farmers markets. They’re also adding spaces for a bakery and farm-to-table dinners. Maybe you’ve been dreaming about quitting your 9-to-5 and living off the land, as the Wagners did. But trading traffic for tractors isn’t always easy. During their transition to rural life, the Wagners welcomed twin daughters who—while adorable—take up quite a bit of their time and energy. They also have a teenage son.

During the twins’ nap time, Chris and Kiona made time to chat with The Zest. In this conversation, the Wagners get transparent about how the fantasy of farm life lives up to the reality—and why, for them, it’s ultimately worth it. They also how we can all reconnect with our food without going off the grid. Chris starts by explaining how Rocky Soil Family Farm got its name.

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Behind the Scenes of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival Feb 17, 2022

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Winter is prime growing season in Florida. And each February, thousands of folks from across descend upon the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum to celebrate one crop in particular: collard greens. This year’s Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival is set for Saturday, Feb. 19 at the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg. There’ll be plant giveaways, nutrition seminars, a collard green cook-off and more. But the significance of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival goes far beyond the leafy vegetables. The event attracts around 3,000 people of all ages and races to the historically Black neighborhood of South St. Petersburg, making it a celebration of diversity. Heading into the festival’s fifth year, Dalia chatted with festival cofounders Boyzell Hosey and Samantha Harris. Boyzell starts by explaining how the event came to be. Listen to the end to learn who this year’s headliner will be.

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