ARLINGTON, VA – The newest
episode of
The Rice Stuff podcast takes listeners on a ride through Rice World as show hosts Michael Klein and Lesley Dixon talk about the National Rice Month Scholarship contest, a new consumer study of whole grain consumption, and what it’s like to grow rice in downtown Washington, DC.
USA Rice’s Deborah Willenborg, director of marketing & communications, officially launched the 2021 National Rice Month Scholarship Video Contest, sponsored by American Commodity Company.
“I love seeing the creativity of the students each year,” Willenborg said. “This project gets them learning about and talking about the U.S. rice industry, and that information gets shared with their family and friends, which is the whole point of National Rice Month – to raise awareness about U.S. rice.”
Director of Nutrition for Oldways Kelly Toups, MLA, RD, LDN, joined the podcast to discuss the increase in whole grain consumption being tracked across the country. This, of course, includes brown rice, and Kelly shares her insights into American’s eating habits and how U.S.-grown rice can take advantage of the trends.
Finally, Klein and Dixon reached back into The Rice Stuff archives to catch up with a guest from the very first episode.
As senior advisor for Farm Journal Foundation, Jay Vroom has a lot on his plate. One of his most interesting projects is managing the Voice of the Farmer garden outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) headquarters in Washington, DC.
Last year, for Episode One, Dixon visited the garden with Jay where he was trying to cultivate rice donated by USA Rice and the LSU AgCenter. Technical advice was provided by USA Rice’s Dr. Steve Linscombe, and it all went…okay.
Jay is back to update listeners on his second DC rice crop, and he took a moment to reflect on the well-deserved respect the agriculture community enjoys in the United States.
“Of all the buildings on the National Mall, the only one that is not a museum is the USDA headquarters, and I think every farmer should stop and think about that and be proud,” Vroom said.
Klein and Dixon shared numerous online resources from all the show guests –
www.reelricecontest.com for the video contest,
www.oldwayspt.org and
www.wholegrainscouncil.org for Kelly’s group, and
www.fjfgarden.org for a tour of the Voice of the Farmer garden.
New episodes of
The Rice Stuff are published on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month and can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. All episodes and additional information can be found on the podcast’s dedicated website at
thericestuffpodcast.com. The site includes a “Podcast 101” section on the “About” page for people new to the medium and a means to reach out to the show hosts and guests via the “Talk to Us” button.