UGA College of Ag staff makes ‘Where the Food Comes From’ appearances
From staff reports
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ATHENS – Quick … tomato, fruit or veggie? OK, you probably know that one. Seems like it should be a vegetable, but we pretty much all know it’s a fruit. But did you know it’s technically a berry?
Turns out there are hundreds of others in that same “Who knows?” category, as viewers will discover on the RFD-TV Network’s (DirecTV, Dish, Cable, Sling) popular series “Where The Food Comes From.”
The findings are presented in a hilarious mock game show format filmed on the University of Georgia campus. Host Chip Carter leads contestants on a search for what’s what – and UGA’s Dr. Tim Coolong, a professor and extension specialist in the vegetable world, clues them in on where they’re wrong.
Eggplant, pecans, peanuts, onions, corn, carrots and dozens of others are put under the microscope. The contestants – and the host (and most likely you) – are pretty much clueless. What you think is a strawberry seed? Nope. That’s actually the fruit – the tiny seed is inside what you think is the seed. The yummy red stuff we love is just a bonus.
So why does it matter if a food is actually a fruit or veggie? Coolong explains that, too.
“There are very practical reasons for these definitions in terms of [farm] management,” he says. “There are botanical reasons. Even in cooking, a fruit would be an item that’s consumed alone. A vegetable would be defined as an item that would be consumed as part of something else, part of a dish or a side item.”
Not to mention that the guessing is just a whole lot of fun. And it’s part of the show’s ongoing mission to help people better understand what they’re eating.
Says Carter, who also created and produces the show, “Before I got to UGA, I thought I was pretty smart. Now I’m not so sure.”
Now that its final episode of Season 4 has aired, “Where the Food Comes From,” which premiered on RFD-TV in January 2022, is being prepared for its next phase, including expanding to other audiences, channels, networks and streamers through a new agency distribution and syndication deal that began in January.
The show is focused on the farm, but follows the food supply chain to show all the invisible players who keep us fed – and the challenges they face. From milking water buffaloes on North Carolina mountaintops, to growing corn with a 12-year-old professional in Wisconsin, to making blue cheese at Clemson University, “Where the Food Comes From” leaves the beaten path to show you how it all happens.
“We’re about the business of farming,” Carter says, “but we’re equally about the heart and soul of farmers and the other people who feed us.”
The most recent episode of “Where the Food Comes From” is the second to feature UGA, and there are two more scheduled for Season 5, premiering this summer.
For more information, visit WhereTheFoodComesFrom.com or look for the showpage on the RFD-TV Network website.
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