Faces of Agriculture

Featured Videos

History of your steak - Nothing tops a good steak cooked just the way you like it but do you know what all goes into getting that steak to your plate and for that matter how the beef industry has evolved to become more green and sustainable in the process. In this video we take a look at the industry back in the day of the 750-mile cattle drives and how today diets and on-farm production regimes are precisely based on what's in the best interest of the steer and the final result for you the consumer.

Cured Meats for Healthy Heartbeats - Research out of the University of Texas is showing that the nitrates and nitrites in cured meats - hot dogs, bacon, ham, to name a few - are actually good for your cardiovascular health. That same work also has disputed long-held beliefs that cured meats cause cancer and proven that if indeed nitrates and nitrites were cancer-causing we'd have to stop eating leafy green vegetables because they have many times more of a concentration of those compounds than do meats.

Chicago buzz - High atop the roof of the Marriott Hotel on the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago agriculture is at work. Three honey bee hives are thriving and the honey produced is being used in the hotel's bakery goods and signature beer. In this video we visit with the hotel's executive chef about the bees and other things he and his staff is doing to provide more local flavor for hotel guests.

Farm in the Zoo - When one thinks of agriculture, the image that most often comes to mind is that of a farmstead or ranch in the wide open countryside. Yet, in the shadows of Chicago's skyscrapers there is another type of farm and its purpose is that of educating kids and adults alike about the essentials of life that agriculture provides us each and everyday. The Lincoln Park Zoo's Farm in the Zoo also shares with visitors the city's rich history in agriculture and the pivotal role it has played in shaping what Chicago is today.

It's about the kids - A new food and nutrition program at Baltimore City Public Schools is all about the kids. It teaches them about their food, how it is produced and how to make choice healthy foods. In this video, we talk with Tony Geraci, director, food and nutrition services at the schools, about Meatless Monday, the Great Kids Farm and the food choices he offers each school day to the 85,000 kids in the district.

Hormones... The facts may surprise you! - Hormones are a necessary part of life and their use in the production of our food significantly reduces the carbon footprint associated with a steak or glass of milk. So before you pay the extra money for hormone-free (which really there aren't such products), make sure you know the facts. Facts like how beef produced with the use of growth-promoting hormones is actually quite similar to beef produced with no such added technology and how the garden salad you eat before your steak and that soy latte you are sipping on have way more hormones than you will ever find in a piece of beef.

Calories come first - For those who are hungry, it is calories that count the most rather than how their food is produced. We visit the Salvation Army in Springfield, IL, to talk with those that help the food insecure get from day to day.

Bird welfare is key in today's egg production - To get the facts on today's modern egg production systems, we went to Indiana to visit a family farm where they produce eggs indoors using both conventional cages and cage-free barns. Bob Krouse of Midwest Poultry Supply gave us a tour and talked with us about the different production systems. The philosophy at Midwest Poultry Supply is that of giving consumers a choice in the eggs they choose to buy, said Krouse.