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Thursday at 01:00 pm - 01:30 pm

Eat Your Heartland Out

Eat Your Heartland Out is a series dedicated to highlighting the rich, yet often overlooked, culinary depth of the American Midwest. Food is the storyteller while host Capri S. Cafaro serves as your audio tour guide through this region spanning 12 states. The show aims to weave a tapestry of cultural diversity, immigration history, migration patterns and agricultural variations in each episode. Expect to gain new insights about Midwestern foodways through compelling interviews with historians, authors, chefs and makers; each of whom brings a unique perspective on the Midwest's culinary story.

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Produced by Capri Cafaro

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Capri Cafaro

Capri S. Cafaro is a Midwestern girl at heart.  A native of Ohio, she served in state government for a decade where she focused her work on health care and the needs of the vulnerable.  When she was not working on legislation in the statehouse, she was baking pies for family and friends in her own house. After term limits brought her time in the Ohio Senate to a close, Capri now teaches public policy at the university level and is a frequent political commentator on cable news outlets.  With politics in the rearview, Capri also has more time to spend on her culinary passions.  Capri believes food is the common denominator that brings us all together and the ingredient that can tell our nation’s story without words.  Capri is the author of the new cookbook, United We Eat: 50 Great American Dishes to Bring Us Together (Story Farm Press).  She has also written about food, culture and travel for outlets such as FoodNetwork.com, TravelForFoodHub.com, FoxNews.com and often brings her baking skills to TV audiences across the country.

Latest Episodes

Refugee Chefs: Empowering and Educating Through Food

Episode 24, Aired: July 9, 2021
In this episode, we meet refugee chefs who now call the United States their home. In Milwaukee, Tables Across Borders brings the community together through food with a variety of events that spotlight the talents of refugee chefs. In Missoula, Montana, we meet the founder of Soft Landin...

Community Pantries, Fridges and Ovens: Helping Feed Communities Through Mutual Aid in the Midwest

Episode 23, Aired: June 18, 2021
In this episode, we explore how community fridges, pantries and even ovens are helping address food insecurity across the Midwest. These concepts have popped up in larger cities on the coasts, but are also present in cities and towns big and small in the Midwest. Unsurprisingly, Chicago...

The Pay-What-You-Can Cafe Revolution

Episode 22, Aired: April 29, 2021
In this episode, we meet some pioneers of the “pay what you can” café movement throughout the Midwest. In South Dakota, we visit Fork Real Community Café, where local lawyers dine along side the homeless. In Ohio, we head to Fennel and Thyme Café, a meal prep business committed to payin...

Rob Connoley: Bringing Historic Ozark Cuisine to Life

Episode 21, Aired: April 3, 2021
If you have ever wanted to learn more about the food and culture of the Ozarks, today’s show is for you. We are joined by Rob Connoley, founder of Bulrush in Missouri. Rob will tell us about his journey from non-profit professional to restaurant owner and how his search for authenticity...

Beaver, Pancakes and Paczki: Lenten Food Traditions of the Midwest

Episode 20, Aired: March 26, 2021
Fat Tuesday and Friday fish fries are well-known food traditions of the Lenten season. In this episode, we go beyond the usual Lenten staples to explore some tasty and maybe surprising Lenten dishes.  In Missouri, beaver is served instead of fish on Fridays.  Brenton Brown of Bootleggin...

Midwestern Mead: Modern Makers of the Ancient Drink

Episode 19, Aired: March 19, 2021
Mead is an often overlooked and misunderstood drink. But, in recent years, it has grown in popularity, especially in the Midwest.  Mead makers come to the craft from a variety of backgrounds. On today’s show we will meet Kent Waldeck, a former manufacturing project manager who took his ...