A Fork in the Road

Host David Zelski heads to a Americus, Georgia to an old bus station that is home to Cafe Campesino. There he talks to his old friends Bill Harris and Tripp Pomeroy about how their desire for fair trade coffee began with a Habitat for Humanity trip to Guatemala almost 30 years ago. 

In Savannah, Maggie Lilly turned a homemade snack for her children into Party of Hive, a growing granola business built around local Georgia honey and simple ingredients. Host David Zelski joins the self-proclaimed Chief Granola Officer to learn how family, community support, and hard work turned a kitchen recipe into a Georgia Grown success story.

Travel with David to one of Georgia’s oldest towns, Savannah. Here we’ll visit Savannah’s Candy Kitchen and speak with owner Rhett Strickland as he gives us a tour of how the treats are made and what makes this place so special. 

In Tifton, Georgia, pitmaster Eric Wisham brings a sweet-and-spicy twist to Southern barbecue with his signature pepper jellies. Host David Zelski visits Wisham’s BBQ food truck to sample Blazing Blueberry pulled pork, peach-glazed ribs, and smoked mac and cheese, and to learn how family traditions inspired Eric’s cooking. Along the way, we discover how good barbecue brings a community together.

Step through a gate in Atlanta and you enter the bamboo-filled world of Kara O’Brien’s Atlanta Alpaca Treehouse, where rescued llamas, alpacas, and guanacos share the property with a one of a kind treehouse retreat. In this episode, we explore how a place built for friends grew into a destination for overnight stays, llama yoga, and animal rescue, all while giving visitors a rare escape into nature without leaving the city.

Travel with David into the mountains of Rabun County to explore Terra Incognita Vineyard, where Georgia wine, mountain trails, and a sense of adventure come together. You will meet Torsten Ernst, UGA viticulture specialist Dr. Sarah Lowder, and winemaker Alaqua Crawford as we follow North Georgia grapes from the vineyard through the winemaking process and into the tasting room.

In Ellijay, Georgia, fourth-generation farmer Joshua Aaron is carrying more than 80 years of family history into the future at Aaron Family Orchards. We explore the old apple house, Ellijay’s close-knit orchard community, new high-density apple plantings, and Joshua’s plans to keep a North Georgia farming tradition growing for another generation.

Follow David to the University of Georgia’s Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center in Griffin to meet ILA Nutrition founders Amy Saleh and Eileen Brantley as they develop energy bars made with adaptogenic herbs and carefully selected ingredients. You will see how UGA FoodPIC, food scientists, and entrepreneur Keith Kelly help transform an herbalist-inspired concept into a product designed for commercial production.

Join David Zelski on a visit to Stonewall Creek Vineyards in Tiger, Georgia, where Mark and Sandi Diehl are helping shape North Georgia wine one harvest at a time. This episode explores how grapes, including Cabernet Franc, Petit Manseng, and Traminette, grow in the mountain climate, then follows the winemaking process from hand harvesting and fermentation to barrels and the tasting room.

Travel with David to Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, Georgia, to trace its roots in Georgia’s early craft beer movement and see how beer moves from grain to glass. You hear from Terrapin leaders about Hopsecutioner IPA, the brewery’s Grateful Dead-inspired identity, the science behind brewing, its Terraprint sustainability work, and its connection to the Athens community.