37 - Chef Eric Rivera and Andy Chapman

EATYALL: Chefs Tell the Story of Farmers

How surprised would you be to learn about a back parking lot transformed into an indoor farm? Executive Chef Eric Rivera of the Vintage Cafe, Montgomery, Alabama, joins us to detail the incredible achievement made by some brilliant chefpreneurs at redesigning and revitalizing a neighborhood using hydroponic container farming methods (system sold by Freight Farms). By layering in different climate and lighting controls in an indoor environment, it enables plants and crops to grow anytime and anywhere in the world. Listen in for some fantastic tips and strategies to harvesting crops and plants internally, turning your craziest dreams into reality, and producing fresh ready to eat food anywhere. This episode of the EATYALL Podcast has been sponsored by Sweet Grown Alabama, a non-profit organization that enhances Alabama farmers' marketing opportunities by connecting retailers, restaurants & consumers to Alabama-grown foods. Sneak peek:

• Eric and his restaurant team runs the gamut and changes their menu with the seasons. [01:44]
• How did they manage to transform a bank into a cafe? [03:23]
• Learn about the hydroponic container farming method from Freight Farms [04:32]
• Eric talks about harvesting the root system. [08:58]
• Bibb lettuce seeds can be harvested after five weeks and stored for several weeks after that. [11:27]
• How they turned their crazy farming idea into reality! [15:18]
• Eric shares his first food memory. [20:21]
• In the shipping container they have, it's all LED lights. These plants can only absorb the red light and blue light. [17:55 ]
• Join Andy and Eric for EATYALL’s infamous Lightning Round! [20:21]

Connect with our guests and partners: Chef Eric Rivera- https://www.ericriveracooks.com Freight Farms - https://www.freightfarms.com Vintage Cafe - https://www.vintagecafemgm.com/about Vintage Year - https://www.vymgm.com Sweet Grown Alabama- https://www.sweetgrownalabama.org Connect with Us https://eatyall.com https://findfamilyfarms.com Instagram - https://instagram.com/letseatyall Facebook - https://facebook.com/letseatyall Twitter - https://twitter.com/letseatyall LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/letseatyall

The EATYALL Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, Chief Relationship Officer and founder of EATYALL. EATYALL helps food farmers and artisan food makers connect to chefs and consumers who are looking for better ingredients. EATYALL is the creator and host of EATYALL Chef Camps, an immersive, overnight experience for professional chefs who want to learn more about where their ingredients come from, want to discover new, better ingredients and rejuvenate in a collaborative environment with other like-minded chefs.