For our 12th episode of our podcast, Territory Tales, we chatted with our friend Jessica Hanson about her business, The Kitchen at Middleground Farms. Jessica is the owner, but that hardly explains her role. She is also the head chef, farmer, creator, gardener, teacher, mother and wife.
Opening a kitchen in the country where she can teach customers how to cook with foods grown on the farm, didn't just happen overnight. In fact, her career path was more of a winding road, but luckily all the experiences she gained led to the perfect job for her. It might be chaotic at times and loads of hard work, but once you meet Jessica, you'll see her immense passion for everything that goes into making The Kitchen the rock star cooking (and learning) school that it has become.
During our conversation, Jessica describes her love of food and animals and how, when cooked properly, even your least favorite food can become something delightful to your taste buds. She's truly fascinating to listen to, as she describes food in such a beautiful way, and she really motivates people to learn the importance of growing their own food, giving animals the best life possible while raising them for specific purposes and tending to their land (and life).
She does this all while imploring us to find our middle ground, a mantra so integral to her that she made it the name of her farm. We might not all be able to have our own farm or raise our own food, but we can strive to eat more locally and humanely raise meats, grow a tomato or two, linger a little longer with friends and family over a meal and always keep learning.
You can watch the video below!
