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The Hot Dish delves into the most pressing issues facing rural America. Hosts Heidi and Joel Heitkamp speak with policymakers, advocates and everyday Americans living across rural America about what's happening across the heartland and what should be done to make life better for rural America.ct's The Hot Dish, former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp serves up insight into issues affecting rural Americans.
Heidi: Welcome to The Hot Dish. We've got a great show about Thanksgiving. And it brings up a lot of memories about growing up in a house that had how many square feet, and not a lot of space, and not a big kitchen, but somehow, my mother figured out how to cook a meal for 30 people and serve it. Of course, then, she had five daughters who worked really, really hard, and then [00:00:30] one son who the most thing that worked was his jaw, either eating or talking. And that was his name, Joel Heitkamp. So Joel, welcome to The Hot Dish. It's great to have you as a co-host and Happy Thanksgiving.
Joel: 1,200 square feet, five sisters, one brother. And I got to tell you, I slept in the laundry room and that isn't even teasing. And she says that I didn't do dishes. Well, I tell you what, I did plenty of laundry because ...
Heidi: That is not true.
Joel: I heard [00:01:00] the machine going.
Heidi: That is not true.
Joel: How many people out there listening to The Hot Dish Podcast know what a sud saver is? I'll bet you out of all the people that are hopping on with us to take a listen, I'll bet you probably 5% know what a sud saver is.
Heidi: Yeah. And think about this: You have a family of nine people and a very small septic tank, so my mother used to run the wash water into the ditch in the backyard. [00:01:30] I don't think you'd get by with that anywhere, Joel. Do you think?
Joel: Well, it depends on if they catch you, but here's the other part. The septic system with all of you girls couldn't take it anymore.
Heidi: Oh, quit it. Just quit it.
Joel: I think you guys showered twice a day or something like that.
Heidi: Just quit it. Just quit it. And for everybody who has a spare minute and can stream a great show, Joel does a great Thanksgiving show with a friend of ours who grew up in what? 18 kids, Joel? Steve Tomac?
Joel: [00:02:00] Yeah, he's one of 18.
Heidi: And he comes on and talks about being raised in basically a two-bedroom house with that many kids and it's delightful. So tune into KFGO, The Mighty 790. You can get it on any place where you can stream radio stations and it'll be well worth your time. But today, we're going to talk about The Hot Dish, Joel, not your program, and we have a great program for you. As most of you start working on getting those turkeys in your oven, we're going [00:02:30] to be talking to Eddie Oliver, who's the Executive Director of the Federation of Virginia Food Bank, about their work to feed Virginians and how you can make Thanksgiving more joyful for someone else.
Joel: And if you're stressed out about hosting your family this year, imagine what it was like for Robert Kluver. He hosted the President of the United States on his farm earlier this month. I'll bring you that conversation next. But first, Heidi, I got a joke for you. You ready?
Heidi: [00:03:00] Yeah.
Joel: Don't say it like that.
Heidi: Can you ...
Joel: Say it like you're excited for one of my jokes.
Heidi: This a family-oriented podcast, Joel.
Joel: Well, this is a joke from my granddaughter. Oh, wait. That still doesn't fit. That doesn't necessarily ensure what you're looking for. But wait, why do turkeys make terrible baseball players?
Heidi: I don't know, Joel. Why do turkeys make terrible baseball players?
Joel: Because they only hit fowl balls. Right? [00:03:30] That's straight from Lola, the family comedian.
Heidi: When I hear that, "I swear I didn't know turkeys couldn't fly."
Heidi: One of the greatest moments of television.
Joel: We're probably the only ones old enough to know WKRP.
Heidi: Oh, I bet you there's plenty of people listening who know that line. "I swear I didn't know turkeys" ... The horror. "Don't get mad at me." But it was the horror, yeah.
Joel: Didn't he say, "As God [00:04:00] is my witness, I didn't know turkeys could fly"?
Heidi: Could not fly. Yeah.
Joel: Yeah.
Heidi: It's a great show. Anyway ...
Joel: So I have to ask you a question. You ready?
Heidi: Yep.
Joel: So like I said, we had a 1,200-square-foot home that we grew up in. No basement you could go into, other than to get the wood fire stoked up. So one bathroom, right? Why is it we always hosted the holidays versus our cousins?
Heidi: Because my mother was clearly the [00:04:30] best cook.
Joel: She could have hauled it with her.
Heidi: We joked. She made the best butter horns and cooked the best Turkey. I mean, to this day, her meals are still the best Thanksgiving meals I've ever eaten. She kind of passed it off a little early in her life, but when she was doing it, she did it right.
Joel: Well, everybody asks why you don't see a small Heitkamp. It's Mom's fault. But I mean, here's the truth. The adults ...
Heidi: Why use [00:05:00] one cube of butter when you can use a whole stick?
Joel: Right. I mean, the kitchen was obviously the main area. It wasn't a, "Hey, get out of here. I'm cooking," right? I mean, it really was. And that's where as soon as the meal was done and you girls did the dishes and I went out to try to harvest this another turkey, that's when the pinochle started in the kitchen. And remember what it was like when they finally let us kids play pinochle?
Heidi: Well, I just remember that Grandma [00:05:30] cheated.
Joel: Oh, she was a big cheat. Wist was terrible. And I told Dad one time because I'm standing there watching. I knew how to play the game and I'm standing there over her shoulder. And after it was all over, I said to Dad, I said, "Dad, Grandma cheats." And he goes, "It doesn't matter. She loses anyway."
Heidi: Well, I know that there's been a lot of talk about Thanksgiving dinners and [00:06:00] what happens during families who are politically divided. But my argument is when you go there, put on HGTV. Put on the Food channel. No one can argue about that. And don't talk politics, don't talk religion. Just talk, "Who's going to cook and what's the best way to cook a turkey?"
Welcome, Eddie Oliver, the Executive Director of the Federation of Virginia Food [00:06:30] Banks.
Eddie: I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Heidi: Just give us an idea of ... How big is your organization? How many food banks do you serve?
Eddie: The Federation of Virginia Food Banks, we represent all seven regional Feeding America food banks. In the Commonwealth, we work with about 1,100 partner agencies across the state. And those are your church pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters. Those are all part of our extended network where we reach every single city and locality. We distributed [00:07:00] 135 million pounds of food last year and served about 800,000 people.
Heidi: Isn't that incredible? The thing that I would hear all the time when we were talking about SNAP is no one in America goes hungry. That just really is a thing that you're going through. So what do you say to people who say, "Really? Aren't these people just getting free food when they could pay for it themselves?"
Eddie: Yeah, we do hear that far too often. And it [00:07:30] is eye-opening once you go into these different communities and start to talk to people and really learn how much they struggle to put food on the table. It affects all different types of communities. It's not just an urban problem. It's a suburban problem. It's a rural problem. It affects all races. I mean, it disproportionately impacts communities of color, of course because of higher poverty rates, but it really can't affect anyone at any time. And so many families today [00:08:00] live paycheck to paycheck, and so families are just one crisis, one missed paycheck away from falling into food insecurity.
And I think what a lot of people don't realize is when you're thinking about your own household finances, you have to pay your rents or you get evicted, you have to pay your mortgage or you lose your house, you have to pay your car payment or you lose your car. Food is the thing that people can skimp on and parents will skip meals [00:08:30] to make sure their kids can eat. They'll buy worse food because it's cheaper. And so that is the way that it really comes into people's lives and it's why it's so pervasive. But you would think in a country, and a state as rich in resources as Virginia, we wouldn't have that problem. But it really is far too pervasive.
Heidi: Well, Eddie, the reason why we wanted you on is because Thanksgiving, right? Because Thanksgiving is the eating holiday.
Eddie: Right.
Heidi: People [00:09:00] think about food. They think about what food means to culture, what food means to community, what food means to family. And people volunteering at food pantries to distribute food and people putting together boxes of food to deliver. And then it's kind of like, "Okay, did that. Now we're done." Number one, food insecurity does not begin to end during the holidays. But talk to me about what percentage of your program happens during the holidays.
Eddie: [00:09:30] Yeah, so in just the last two months of the year, I'd say, for our financial and food donations, we probably get around a third to a half of all of our support just in that two-month period, which makes us very busy. It's a busy time of year at food banks. And that's a great thing. We love the attention. We embrace all the volunteers. Hopefully when people are coming in, they get a sense of what we do and the extent of the issue. And we want to turn people into recurring supporters. And again, whether that's financial or [00:10:00] time that you have to give, we need support all year round, and I appreciate you acknowledging that.
It feels good to give back during the holidays. I totally get that. It's part of the giving season. But because of all the additional support, sometimes for food insecure families, they actually get more of their needs met during the holidays than they do during the summer, for example, where we see child hunger is a big issue because school is closed and they're not getting school meals. And so it's not top of mind for folks [00:10:30] during the summer, but that's often the hungriest time of year for families with children.
Heidi: I think people wouldn't realize that, but I know that from the work that we did on the summer hot lunch programs, trying to expand hot lunch into parks where families could come up and pick up a hot meal. I mean, we take it for granted, so many of us. But I want to talk about one of my favorite things to talk about, which is gardening.
Eddie: Ah, yes.
Heidi: My husband grows a huge vegetable garden, one that's [00:11:00] big enough probably to feed a small town of Matador, North Dakota with enough produce. And we always find that we have too much produce and he badgers all the neighbors to come harvest and take the produce. And finally, I said, "I'm calling the food bank because I wonder if they'd take some cabbage. I wonder if they'd take kohlrabi. I wonder if they'd take some of these tomatoes, some of these apples." And lo and behold, they do. So I know that there's a lot of gardeners who listen, a lot of people who care about growing [00:11:30] their own food and growing healthy food. What do you think is the national attitude about donations of fresh produce that people grow?
Eddie: We will take good food from anywhere we can get it. Totally embrace if you have more than you can eat in your garden. We had a garden one year and produced enough eggplant alone, I think, to feed our entire neighborhood for a year. And so that's what we're all about is we're taking excess produce or we're getting it to people who need it, and [00:12:00] so we will absolutely take that off your hands. We have a larger strategy here of working more with farmers and growers locally in Virginia. We have a Farms to Food Banks initiative, and a lot of other food banks have this as well. Because even on production farms, where we're talking about orders of magnitude, they often have excess product that they don't have a market for, but it costs them something to harvest it. [00:12:30] If they donate it to a food bank, they're doing that at a loss because they need to pay labor, they need to pay packing, they need to pay freight.
And so we've been successful at starting some grant programs and raising funds just to pay those farmers their overhead costs and bring that product in, and we've been really successful. We work with a cabbage farmer in Southwest Virginia, we're getting apples from the Shenandoah Valley, we're getting potatoes and watermelons. It allows us to get a really good diverse array of product and helping out [00:13:00] the farmers and their bottom lines to some extent too. So it's a win-win, and we're really excited about the work that's happening across the country on that front.
Heidi: I think there's a renewed interest in fresh produce, fresh fruits and vegetables. There is nothing like feeling like you've grown something yourself and then providing it to people who wouldn't otherwise have access. And I know what our folks told us is a lot of the cabbage and the produce that we would [00:13:30] send would go to not food pantries, but would go to soup kitchens and places that prepare food, that they could cook up cabbage soup. It was a good feeling. And we obviously financially support the food bank, but somehow, that meant a lot more to me than simply writing a check. Does that sound weird?
Eddie: Yeah. No, no. I totally get that. And I think it's a long tradition in our country of giving back, and [00:14:00] we have such bountiful resources. Even if it's just your backyard garden or if it's a farm, I think passing along that tangible product helps you feel good. And you really have to embrace the culture of giving and volunteerism. I think that's a huge part of what is going to make our community stronger and maybe help bridge some of these political divides to some degree. But that connection that you make when you give something that you produced, I totally agree. It's [00:14:30] invaluable.
Heidi: Well, unless it's zucchini. My mother-in-law, God bless her. She's not with us anymore, but at our church, St. John's Lutheran Church in Jamestown, you could bring your produce and you would put it in the back of the church. And my daughter was with her and she said, "We got to get to church early," and Ally said, "Well, why, Grandma?" And she said, "Because I've got all this zucchini. I'm going to leave it in the back, but I don't want anyone to know it was me." [00:15:00] I think you'd probably even ...
Eddie: Yeah, I'm not a zucchini fan myself, but I know some people love it.
Heidi: But we grow a lot of it. The joke in North Dakota is don't leave your car door unlocked when you go to church because it'll be filled up with zucchini when you come out.
Eddie: Very funny.
Heidi: But it is really, really important work, and some of the finest people I know work in food distribution. And so thank you so much, [00:15:30] Eddie, for sharing your stories and the important work that you do over this Thanksgiving holiday and, with me, encouraging people not to just think about food insecurity during the holidays, but think about it every year, all year long.
Eddie: It's very rewarding work. Thanks for having me on.
Heidi: You bet.
Joel: Hey, everybody. You want to talk about jealous? Well, the next guest [00:16:00] that we're going to have here on The Hot Dish is somebody that I'm very jealous of. We're talking about a third-generation farmer. That's Robbie Kluver. He is one of the owners of Dutch Creek Farms outside Northfield, Minnesota. They finish hogs, grow corn and soybeans, and basically they do a little bit of everything. Robbie, good to have you on The Hot Dish.
Robert: Yeah, thank you for having me.
Joel: Okay, here's why I used the word "jealous." I don't get to hang out with the president every day. I mean, [00:16:30] the president comes to your farm and next thing you know, you're on the stage saying, "Hey, look at who I'm hanging with."
Joe Biden: When I took office, I decided to invest a billion dollars through the American Rescue Plan and small and medium-sized independent meat processing to expand the capacity.
Joel: What was that like?
Robert: Gosh, it was pretty surreal. A lot of people ask me, "How long did you have with the president?" Probably the overall visit was about two hours, and I had probably [00:17:00] 15 minutes of face-to-face time with the president. That 15 minutes also was both my folks and my brother. It was a very unique experience. And I guess I don't get to meet him every day, but I got to meet him once.
Joe Biden: Folks, look. There's something wrong when just 7% of the American farms get nearly 90%. 7% get 90% of the farm income. And most [00:17:30] farmers rely on jobs off the farm to be able to make ends meet on the farm.
Joel: I know that President Biden said that there's a problem when just 7% of the American farms get nearly 90% of the farm incomes. How did that go over with everyone?
Robert: Well, I mean, that's a tough point for family farms because one of the toughest resources is land and being a family farm, it's really hard to get your foot in the door, especially with [00:18:00] the high land cost prices. That 7% group, they're going to have a lot deeper pockets. So it does make it very challenging for family farms and any smaller farm to compete with the big guys.
Joel: I want to talk a little bit about the president's approach. You hail from Minnesota and the president carried Minnesota, but that's one of the few states in the Midwest that he carried. There's a whole, great, big flyover area here that makes [00:18:30] you assume that the East Coast politicians don't necessarily care about us. What was your impression about his visit when it came to you, and it came to whether or not you and your son and others are going to be there years from now?
Robert: Having them come out and visit and speak to a lot of the points that are really a big concern, especially for small family farms, I mean, it was nice to get recognized and they were asking us our thoughts on things. [00:19:00] What things could they do to better support us in the Midwest and Minnesota and family farms in specific?
Joel: Well, that's good to hear. It's really good to hear a president take that approach. And that's one of the reasons I think the world of this president because I don't think you can fake whether or not you care about somebody. I really don't. And so what was your impression of him, Joe Biden, himself?
Robert: From when I first met [00:19:30] him, a very personable guy. I suppose you have to be in a role like that. Yeah, he was just a great speaker, really good listener. I know the few times that I spoke with him, he was very good at listening and he was just excited to hear about our farm and any of the stories and things. One story about the visit that kind of sticks with me ... When he first got there, we had the opportunity to do family pictures, so that would be my wife [00:20:00] and my two kids and I with the president. And so that was the first thing when he got there. We're walking up to the president and he looks at us, and my littlest one, Remy, who's five, was running in there. And Mr. Biden says, "Oh, what's your name?" and he goes, "Well, I'm Remy." And Mr. Biden kind of leans over and goes, "Well, I'm Joe," and I thought that was pretty adorable that he just [00:20:30] connected with the kid.
Joel: I mean, how cool is that? That's a memory for a lifetime. So I want to ask you about the tour itself. More? Less of these? I mean, do you think it made a difference? Do you think that if farmers could just see him and hear from him, that some of this ag country wouldn't be so solid red?
Robert: I like to be very open-minded about everything and very receptive to new ideas and things. It was really good to [00:21:00] get to meet him, speak a little bit of my concerns, and have him reiterate back some of the plans and things that they were working on. I don't know how easily it would be to change. There's a lot of conservative folks in the area. And I don't know how easy it is to change people's viewpoints. But I mean, it's still good to share [00:21:30] with them the opportunities and things.
Joel: Well, I can tell you this. You're not going to change anybody unless you meet them obviously.
Robert: Yeah, that is true.
Joel: I've taken enough of your time. I want to make sure you say thanks to you and your family and your wife and everybody else, but what are you doing for Thanksgiving?
Robert: Well, we're having my wife, her sister's family over, and so a little good old-fashioned get together for Thanksgiving at our place on the farm.
Joel: Okay. I don't know the answer [00:22:00] to this. I could be setting myself up really bad, right? Vikings fan?
Robert: Yes.
Joel: Oh, thank God. Well, Robbie, great talk. I know you're busy, and yet you still took time to be on The Hot Dish. I appreciate it, man. Thanks.
Robert: Yeah, likewise. Well, thank you very much.
Heidi: And that's our show. We end with some sound from our fabulous board members and what they're [00:22:30] grateful for when they join their families for Thanksgiving.
Anthony: I am thankful for health, strength, and the love from all of my family members.
Heidi: That's Anthony Daniels, House Minority Leader in the Alabama State House and newly-candidate for the United States Congress.
Anthony: This is an exciting time of year because it brings all of the family members together in one place [00:23:00] for a full week. We get a chance to talk about and reminisce about old times. We get an opportunity to eat and watch football. My favorite team is Dallas Cowboys, so we get a chance to brag and talk about the college football season. And so it's a really good time where you get a chance to spend time with family members that you only really see once a year. But when you do see them, you feel the love and the support. And so [00:23:30] that's my most favorite time of the year.
Ashton: Hello. This is Ashton Clemmons, State Representative in North Carolina. I'm happy to be joining The Hot Dish episode on things I'm thankful for. I have to say, I'm just leaving my children's elementary school, and I am thankful this year, as always, but even more so this year for our public school teachers. When you go into school and you see our teachers putting their best foot [00:24:00] forward and doing the best that they can for our children, there's no way to not feel immense gratitude for all of our teachers who are doing the best they can every day for our children. So thank you to teachers here in Greensboro and in North Carolina and across our country. That is certainly something I'm thankful for this year.
Heidi: Next up is JD Scholten.
JD: To me, it's all about family. My family has supported me all along the way and I'm forever grateful. But [00:24:30] this time of year, I get a little bit sad because the one person who made it all super special was my grandmother, Grandma Fern. She's a huge part of, actually, how I got into politics. I wouldn't say that she was super political, but she was the one who told me I need to move back to Iowa and take care of our farm, and that ultimately led me to run for Congress and get more active.
She just was such a special lady. She was a fifth grade teacher. She made just going [00:25:00] to the farm, visiting her, and just made everyone feel like they were the most important person, and so I miss her dearly. As for a holiday tradition, Thanksgiving, every year, we tend to go to the local bowling alley, and I think that's the only time any of us bowl all year, but we have a good time so it's one of the things I'm really looking forward to. Stuffing myself with a lot of great food and then heading into the bowling alley and try to improve on last year's score.
Heidi: [00:25:30] And finally, Sarah Godlewski, Wisconsin Secretary of State.
Sarah: Hello everyone. With the holidays right around the corner, I will tell you I am just grateful to go back to my hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and spend it with my family. We all live across the state and even in different parts of the country, and for us to all come together to celebrate is something that I am truly grateful for. [00:26:00] I will be bringing my favorite special recipe, green bean casserole. And as the Wisconsin gal, of course that will include a lot of delicious Wisconsin cheddar. I wish everyone an incredible holiday, and just grateful for all the work that folks are doing across this country to make America a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
Heidi: [00:26:30] I am so grateful to all of our board at the One Country Project and to all of our listeners. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much in this country to be grateful for and so much more work to do to make sure that everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We'll see you in two weeks.