On this episode of Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer is talking with Erik Cutter of Alegría Farms and EnvironIngenuity. Tune into this episode to her Eric discuss the water retention benefits of certain drip hydroponic systems. Learn why Eric prefers hydroponics to organic row farming, and what the differences are between hydroponic and row crop seeds. At what point does vertical farming become as cost-efficient as vertical farming methods? Learn how hydroponics can be used as an educational tool for today's youth, and how hydroponics can increase local food production in desert areas such as the American Southwest and the Middle East. This episode has been sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

"We've got to get to a decentralized urban environment with may hundreds of small farms... We're talking farm-to-table in minutes!" [16:45]

"We're not short on oil... we're short on two resources: soil and water." [23:20]

-- Erik Cutter on Straight, No Chaser

Viva Farms is a farm incubator for new and Latino farmers, but they also maintain a large production farm. Produce from the Viva farm and the incubator farms feeds into the Viva Farms "food hub" along with other local products, which is then distributed to a 1,200 member CSA and various wholesale accounts in the greater Seattle market. Chris oversees it all, helping to cultivate new farmers as a relatively young farmer himself. He has worked on farms and ecological preserves for over 10 years, farming in Montana, Ecuador, New Mexico and Washington. Chris is both a hardcore farmer and a teacher, managing production, interns, and a bilingual farm crew while troubleshooting in the field with new farmers. His experience and perspective would make for a great conversation about young farmers--particularly beginning Latino farmers! This program has been brought to you by Hearst Ranch.

"Most of the farmers in our program are Latinos that have grown up as farm workers, and now they have the chance to be farm owners." [8:00] -- Chris Elder on Greenhorn Radio

This week on In the Drink, host Joe Campanale is joined by Ryan Looper, sales rep for T. Edwards Wines. Ryan explains what its like selling some of the best wine in the world and why he strongly believes that memorizing facts and reading sales sheet is no substitute for going to wine regions and meeting winemakers. From relationships to distribution, learn about the ins and outs of the sales world in wine. How can you find value by the glass in restaurants? Are wine lists getting too big? Tune in for a conversation on buying and selling wine today and hear Joe and Ryan taste some wines on air! This program was sponsored by Rolling Press.

"Things happen quickly - it's a very fast moving wine world in New York City." [7:00]

"You can read a book and memorize facts all day long - but if you go to Burgundy and stand in Corton... it's really something." [8:00]

"One of the lost arts of sales is listening." [4:00]

"I think there's a lot of things happening in California that will make people very happy." [26:00]

--Ryan Looper of T. Edwards Wines on In the Drink