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Plants and People: A Healthy Connection
81 Plays2 days ago
In this lively and laughter-filled episode, the Hort Culture crew—Alexis, Brett, Jessica, and Ray—dive into the deep connections between horticulture, health, and community. The conversation kicks off with birthday cake energy and quickly blooms into a discussion about how plants and specialty crops shape lives—from personal stories about meeting spouses on farms to the way flowers boost mood and spark connection.
The team explores fascinating research on the physical and mental health benefits of plants: from leafy greens supporting brain health to tree canopy reducing heat-related emergencies. They talk CSAs, farm-to-school programs, and how trying new vegetables (and flowers!) can help build lasting habits. Plus, there’s a fun round of Kentucky farmers market price trivia—revealing just how much tomatoes and beans have changed over 20 years.
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Transcript
Introduction and Mood Setting
00:00:17
Alexis
right, listeners, I'm warning you up front. We are goofy, silly, funny today. So maybe a little awkward, maybe a little random, a little bit giddy.
00:00:22
Plant People
ere Are we not that?
00:00:23
Jessica
little Little bit of giddy.
00:00:24
Plant People
We're that every time. We're that every time.
00:00:26
Alexis
Yeah, probably some words I'm not going to say on a UK platform,
Personal Holidays and Celebrations
00:00:30
Alexis
other words, but overall awesome, which is why you're here today.
00:00:30
Plant People
Silly even.
00:00:31
Brett
I
00:00:31
Plant People
Yeah. Okay.
00:00:35
Alexis
So thank you for being here. I'm so hyped chocolate cake right now. um
00:00:41
Plant People
Okay.
00:00:42
Alexis
So, you know, just I need you to be self-aware that the sugar rush
00:00:43
Plant People
Health food.
00:00:47
Alexis
hella real.
00:00:48
Plant People
It's rushing.
00:00:48
Alexis
So...
00:00:48
Brett
need you to be self-aware, I think. You are self-aware of it.
00:00:50
Alexis
but Oh, I'm self-aware. I need everybody else to just be ready for it.
00:00:54
Brett
Well, you got cake. Why you got cake? where are we Are we coming off of a national holiday?
00:01:01
Alexis
I mean, 26th is National Dog Day. So it technically is and national holiday.
00:01:06
Brett
Oh, well.
00:01:09
Alexis
It also happens to be the day I was born on this planet.
00:01:13
Plant People
Which is a national holiday.
00:01:13
Alexis
so
00:01:14
Brett
Yeah, there you go.
00:01:15
Alexis
Pretty much a big deal.
00:01:15
Plant People
Now there's that out always.
00:01:17
Alexis
I am rolling into 34, feeling prime.
00:01:20
Brett
i was going to say last year, your twenty s What are you going to do with it
00:01:20
Alexis
crime
00:01:24
Alexis
No, i somebody else said that joke to me the other day, an older gentleman who's good friend. And he said, so, and he knew how old I was. And he said, ah, so 29 again, huh? And I said, no, hell no. I'm in my 30s and I love it. So shout out to all of you who are 29 in real life and maybe a little bit worried about turning 30.
00:01:43
Alexis
Your 30s are really great. Okay. I'm just saying 40s, 40s. I'm excited about my 40s because if 30s were this great, forty s are going to be better. I just
00:01:51
Jessica
Oh,
The Art of Plant Arrangement
00:01:52
Alexis
feel it.
00:01:52
Jessica
yeah.
00:01:52
Alexis
I just know it.
00:01:54
Brett
So just to recap, Alexis just called me unoriginal, ageist, and not funny.
00:01:54
Alexis
Jessica, Jessica can you agree?
00:01:55
Jessica
I, yeah, I'm in my thirty s
00:02:01
Alexis
I did not, it was not you.
00:02:01
Plant People
All of those things.
00:02:05
Plant People
Add to your growing repartee.
00:02:07
Brett
Okay, well.
00:02:07
Alexis
It was not you.
00:02:09
Plant People
Okay. Okay.
00:02:11
Alexis
but Brett did make me a very lovely arrangement with some beautiful, I'm still obsessing over these variegated pines in a way that I don't know is healthy.
00:02:11
Brett
Okay.
00:02:14
Jessica
I saw it. It was beautiful.
00:02:20
Jessica
So cool.
00:02:21
Alexis
I'm like, should I, can I, how am I preserving them? They're so beautiful.
00:02:25
Brett
yeah
00:02:25
Alexis
So if you're interested in variegated pines, maybe we need to do a whole episode on just like unique conifers.
00:02:31
Brett
Yeah, that's a that's a cultivar of of um Japanese red pine, Pinus densiflora that I have in my in my backyard.
00:02:32
Alexis
I feel like that's an episode coming. Hmm.
00:02:40
Plant People
Nice.
00:02:41
Brett
There was also some Japanese black pine in there.
00:02:41
Jessica
Yeah.
00:02:44
Brett
There was some Eastern white pine in there.
00:02:44
Alexis
not
00:02:46
Brett
There was some bald cypress in there, bald cypress, and then a few flowers just to set it off.
00:02:46
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:02:47
Alexis
Hemel? All-Typus. Okay. Yeah.
00:02:54
Brett
A couple of zinnias and hydrangea.
00:02:58
Alexis
Hydrangea.
00:02:59
Jessica
Hi, yep. Hi, Ranger.
00:03:00
Brett
That's the one.
00:03:01
Alexis
It was texturally chef's kiss.
00:03:04
Brett
It's just a little different, little little offbeat, you know?
00:03:04
Alexis
I'm a, I'm big. Yeah. I love it. It's sitting on my kitchen table.
00:03:07
Plant People
Looks like it.
00:03:09
Brett
Oh,
00:03:09
Plant People
Hmm.
00:03:10
Alexis
Yeah.
00:03:11
Brett
Well, you know, that being there, that that flower arrangement being there has, i mean, how would you say it makes you feel, Alexis?
00:03:12
Alexis
But anyways,
00:03:15
Plant People
Thank you.
00:03:21
Brett
yeah And as you all think about, you know, you all, we we all have had cut flowers. This is something we've been thinking about, you know, how, how does it make us feel to interact with these plants? How does it maybe benefit our health? How does it impact ourselves?
Horticulture's Impact on Life and Career
00:03:34
Brett
You know, our CCD team is now in our 25th anniversary. it's 20 organization is 25 years old. We're going to have a little celebration with some, um, some good friends coming up here, um in September.
00:03:41
Jessica
Woohoo.
00:03:48
Brett
And as part of that, one of the things we've been doing is trying to take a look at, I mean, obviously we're taking a look at the way that the CCD has grown and impacted people and tell that story. But part of it too, is just thinking about this whole world of specialty crops and horticulture and the way that it works.
00:04:04
Brett
impacts our lives. um And so obviously that's a good fit for this podcast where we sometimes talk about our feelings. We sometimes talk about our, you know, our identities and our, our wellbeing as human beings.
00:04:11
Plant People
Hmm.
00:04:14
Jessica
a
00:04:16
Brett
um So maybe before we jump in, I have some, some statistics here that we can talk about, but I just wanted, you know, what, when you all think about the positive effect that horticulture and specialty crops has had on you, what comes to mind?
00:04:33
Plant People
Hmm.
00:04:33
Jessica
how How deep are we going to go? Because like I can say, OK, OK.
00:04:38
Brett
Look, I'm on a journey with you. You are the conductor.
00:04:42
Jessica
um ah I like my background. Right. I grew up like on a beef, cattle, tobacco farm, all of that had kind of a garden. But when i graduated high school, my first job was at the horticulture research farm.
00:04:56
Jessica
And that was my first exposure to all these specialty crops. And that is where I met my husband. And now we have our own farm and now we have our own growing specialty crops. And so have a real deep connection to, you know, those kinds of things because that is my life, I guess.
00:05:16
Jessica
Now, I don't know. How do I wrap that up and say that? Like if it wasn't, if it wasn't for me going to work there,
00:05:18
Brett
Yeah.
00:05:18
Plant People
I think there's there's always a story there.
00:05:21
Jessica
If I wasn't going to work there at that farm and getting that exposure to stuff that I had never really been around before, i would not i would not be where I am today in this job as well. So.
00:05:33
Brett
Jessica Cole crop met Sean Besson and now they're raising a crop of Besson's together.
00:05:39
Jessica
We do. We have a little crop of Bessens.
Marketing Specialty Crops
00:05:43
Plant People
bestest bestsings.
00:05:44
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:05:45
Brett
But yeah, so so that's a great, I mean, that's a great answer.
00:05:45
Jessica
That's... yeah
00:05:50
Brett
That's a much, much bigger, yeah, bigger, bigger in scope and impact than, yeah.
00:05:50
Plant People
That's a pretty cool season, yeah.
00:05:54
Jessica
All right. Who's going to follow that?
00:05:56
Brett
And it puts you on a poster.
00:05:56
Plant People
ah Who can follow that?
00:05:57
Brett
um i would say that specialty crops have in part determined the course of my entire life.
00:05:58
Plant People
and i mean, I don't want to try.
00:06:02
Plant People
married.
00:06:02
Brett
Okay, Jessica, thank you.
00:06:03
Jessica
the entire My entire life.
00:06:03
Plant People
Yes.
00:06:04
Jessica
ah
00:06:05
Plant People
The filter is very broad.
00:06:08
Brett
Yeah. What about you, Ray? And and I mean, this could be small things too. It could be like, i you know, go out and see my garden and feel my blood pressure go down or something.
00:06:12
Plant People
Yeah.
00:06:15
Plant People
yeah As far as specialty crops go, I mean, I always know, I always had this feeling, you know, professionally my job that there's usually ah some kind of story there. How do people go down ah path? Because I mean, by very definition of a specialty crop, it's sort of niche.
00:06:30
Plant People
ah in some way or another. But I think about you know things that I used to do and and sell.
00:06:35
Jessica
you
00:06:36
Plant People
And for him for a while, I sold some, like so I'll use an example of shiitake mushrooms and and got an appreciation for all the different things that ah that's involved with a specialty crop as far as marketing that because markets aren't established.
00:06:52
Plant People
And production's one thing. We talk a lot about that on the podcast. Production's one thing. Marketing is another. Well, have to be pretty good at both a lot of times with specialty crops and you have to, if the market's not there, you have to do some education, you have to conceptualize and frame the product.
00:07:07
Plant People
So I think about those mushrooms and trying to sell those and people ask questions, very good questions like, Hey, well, uh, Did you find this in the woods? Will it poison me? Will I die? I mean, very relevant questions.
00:07:18
Plant People
um So you have to involve yourself in ah maybe some different aspects um
The Social Power of Plants
00:07:25
Plant People
of a crop that you're maybe not as a producer used to dealing with. In my case, it was that educational piece um for the mushrooms that I was growing and selling.
00:07:36
Plant People
And people were unfamiliar with. So I kind of got an appreciation and that was outside of my professional, you know, duties, but it kind of gave me that perspective that's helped me in, you know, my extension career with specialty crops. So if I could think of an example, that would be just one as far as having a personal appreciation for all that goes into specialty crops and, you know, getting those to market or to the end consumer.
00:08:02
Plant People
In some cases, if that's what you're doing, if that's what your model is.
00:08:05
Brett
Well, two things or something that I'm kind of hearing from both of your old stories is that it kind of the crops or the systems, whatever you want to call it. They were like this mechanism for like bridging a gap between people or maybe enhancing communication or building a relationship in one way or another.
00:08:23
Brett
um i think that's a big part of, it's it's a big part of this world of of growing plants and eating and sharing, a I think it's also probably a big reason why some of these things are associated with some of the health impacts that they are um is because it brings these social ah primates. That's maybe a redundant phrase, brings these primates together, mostly hairless primates together to laugh and smile and eat and share. And turns out social beings being together and being social around familiar things ah makes us makes us better off.
00:09:02
Brett
think that's an interesting kind of you know background or or subcomponent for some of this stuff. um But alexis Alexis mentioned, so just as an example, I have some statistics here that are pulled from a variety of different studies. You know, we're from the university, so we have the citations available on request.
00:09:20
Brett
um They'll eventually be our website. On our website, probably, actually. But um so here's one that ah there's this there was a study done eventually published in the the Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, which found.
00:09:35
Brett
you cut flowers are a big part of our landscape.
Flowers as Emotional Enhancers
00:09:37
Brett
Now people who receive cut flowers are less depressed, more likely to smile, more likely to start conversations and generally act more sociably than those who received a control object or no object at all. So they gave people flowers, they gave people a pen and they gave people nothing.
00:09:59
Brett
And the cut flowers were the ones that that that had those effects.
00:09:59
Jessica
Oh. oh
00:10:01
Brett
And I mean, it's, it's, It makes sense, but to to see that experimental um experimentally corroborated is pretty interesting.
00:10:12
Alexis
It's, I think we, I know you were talking about cut flowers, but was listening to a podcast the other day uh, they were talking just, you know, about plants in general. And we've, we've used the term, I think we used the term when Chad Nyman was on of like biophilic design, which is, you know, using botanical, whether that's plants or natural woods or these, you know, natural things in your home.
00:10:35
Alexis
ah But anyways, they were talking about like kind of the rise on this like biophilic design style. And a lot of that and was, you know,
00:10:45
Alexis
due to pandemic and people were feeling, you know, there were in a loneliness issue, right? There's people that are just feeling lonely and that was at its height and still is very much up there when you look at the actual numbers of people just generally feeling lonely.
00:11:03
Alexis
and how plants actually played a part not only for people like taking care of something you know maybe they couldn't have pets or even if they do have pets just something to care for you get like instant kind of gratification when it's drooping you water it it looks better right and so there's kind of this instant thing but also how it made connections with people where even introverts who don't necessarily want to go out and do things with people in real you know in real life in person could be online talking about plants with other people and how it made connections. And it was just really, was really cool. And how like with plants, right, we can take cuttings and we give them to people and it's something special. And I think that's like when you give someone a plant
00:11:48
Alexis
you won't always give just anyone a piece at your plant, right? Like even if it's something that's really easy to grow, number one, you want them to be excited about it. Not everybody's excited about plants, but you're also giving them something you've been keeping alive, right? So it's a little extra special when you give somebody um a piece of a plant and then they can give somebody, you know, more and blah, blah, blah. And so it creates this connection between all of us. And I don't know, it was cool to think of it that way, but from something that like doesn't talk and doesn't need you the way even a dog or cat would, um how much connection they can bring for total strangers together.
00:12:24
Plant People
And I think with specialty crops, um you know, a lot of times over the years, I've come to think of them as, you know, this is not just specialty crops, but especially specialty crops in particular.
00:12:36
Plant People
ah Sometimes you have a strong community of interest. And I'll use an example of a recent podcast ah that we did on maple syrup. it's i It could be considered it it's considered a specialty crop.
00:12:48
Plant People
And I worked with a group many years ago, and they were just kind of
Bonding through Specialty Crops
00:12:51
Plant People
getting started and But they bonded over the fact that they were doing something a little bit different. They bonded over the fact that they were learning together from a base level.
00:13:00
Plant People
And I've noticed that about specialty crops. If they're learning together, they're growing together. And a lot of times that strengthens those that interconnectedness. um And that's a community of interest to me. there're It's something that's interesting that a lot of times if you have some of these crops that may not be as well-known or well-established or they're so new that people when they come together, they're truly learning together from a base level. But when I think about the social aspect of, ah but I think about the social aspect when I think of specialty crops and it can be really neat when you meet, and we talked to, we joked about beekeepers and the energy that they have.
00:13:38
Plant People
And I think beekeepers are kind of along those lines too. They're very passionate. If they're keeping bees, they're very passionate about it. And i don't know if you guys that have beekeeping clubs, Jessica, I mean, how many times, do how long do they stay after the meeting?
00:13:52
Plant People
the The second meeting happens in the parking lot after the meeting. And they're talking when I pull away and it's dark in the winter and they're still going at 930 at night. It's amazing the energy these groups have, especially, especially inter interest groups.
00:14:02
Jessica
Right. Right. Yeah. Like a lot of times with ah that group, which they're amazing, but I have to tell them and be like, all right, the alarm kicks on at 11 PM.
00:14:14
Jessica
So just make sure the lights are out and you're out by 11 or you're going to set the alarms off because you're right.
00:14:18
Plant People
Yeah.
00:14:20
Jessica
They'll often come maybe a little before and have like a pre-meeting and then there's an official meeting and then they stay or the afterwards to discuss and kind of like fellowship, right?
00:14:24
Plant People
add
00:14:26
Alexis
This event.
00:14:31
Jessica
With each other.
00:14:31
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:32
Jessica
um ah Or serious questions or, you know, just catching up and all that, but all been brought together by the love of ah ah beekeeping.
00:14:38
Plant People
Just hanging out.
00:14:39
Alexis
good
00:14:43
Plant People
Or if you're at a fruit and veggie conference, we've talked about this before, but I'll notice a small subset over there that's doing something unique with a dwarf peach tree or whatever, but they're kind of, they have this little niche interest. That's a kind of a break off from the main group.
00:14:57
Plant People
And I've noticed groups over the years, that's the one time a year they'll get to get a hangout and they're just, you know, they have this level of excitement about seeing each other. Is that sort of the things you're getting at, Brett?
00:15:05
Jessica
That's it.
00:15:08
Brett
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think, what were you going to say, Jess?
00:15:09
Plant People
Specialty crops, specialty crops, you know.
00:15:12
Jessica
I was just saying like, that's a good point, right? With the fruit and vegetable conference to see, um, the strawberry growers all get together or the apple growers or the different groups like that.
00:15:18
Plant People
no Yeah, yeah.
00:15:21
Jessica
Or I've been to a couple of the apple grower meetings and when those guys get together, you know, seeing how excited they are to talk with each other and a share of things.
00:15:22
Plant People
It's pretty cool, man.
00:15:30
Jessica
It's pretty cool.
00:15:31
Brett
one One thing you hear about those conferences and is this idea of farm to school. And I think schools are an example. We're talking about the sociability angle. Schools are this place where kids learn all kinds of stuff about how to interact with people, how to interact with institutions, how to eat.
00:15:47
Brett
And um another another little stat I have here is that 61% of schools participating in farm to school programs repeated ah reported increased fruit and vegetable consumption by their students.
00:15:48
Plant People
Sorry.
00:16:01
Alexis
um
00:16:01
Brett
And that's from the farm to school census that was came out it came out of USDA a couple of years ago. And I think that that, it's just this real testament. I mean, I don't know. We're in a very important, I'm not going to go down this rabbit hole. We're in a very important moment for what, how we understand our public institutions and what they're supposed to be doing and you know, how, how we should be able to hold them to account or not.
00:16:21
Brett
But I think it just speaks to like, man, schools are feeding so many kids every day. I mean, it's just like a, a passive huge impact.
00:16:28
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:30
Brett
I mean, there's lots of work and energy and stuff that goes into that, but um yeah, I thought that was pretty wild.
00:16:32
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:16:33
Plant People
I mean, it's an age range.
00:16:36
Brett
Turns out you connect people a little bit more yeah, They're eating more fruits of vegetables.
00:16:42
Plant People
I mean, it's a formative kind of years, but there's a lot going on there, both formal and non-formal education, just a very social aspect of being together as a group, learning together, you know, in addition to the primary topics or,
00:16:55
Plant People
primary subject matter. I mean, just the, the, the way that they approach food just because it's served in that setting. I mean, that's not probably by explicit design.
00:17:06
Plant People
It's not an intended outcome, but it's, it's all part of the story, isn't it? That's kind of seems like you could, you know, delve into that based on some of those stats.
00:17:14
Brett
Yeah.
00:17:15
Plant People
I in that case, it was a specific design, um, for the school.
00:17:19
Brett
were you all Were you all vegetable eating kids or were you did you take
Discovering Healthy Eating
00:17:24
Plant People
Yeah.
00:17:24
Brett
some um take some cajoling in order to eat those vegetables?
00:17:28
Plant People
For the most part, because that's what was available. That's you know what we canned and had during the wintertime. If we didn't eat the canned stuff, mom had preserved, then we were kind of out of luck.
00:17:38
Jessica
It's kind of opposite.
00:17:39
Alexis
No, I liked... You were the opposite, Jess?
00:17:43
Jessica
Yes and no. um My mom will kill me for saying this, but we all say it.
00:17:47
Plant People
Yeah.
00:17:48
Jessica
My mom doesn't like eat anything green. k That's like the joke.
00:17:52
Alexis
Don't like green food.
00:17:52
Jessica
so um
00:17:54
Brett
Yeah.
00:17:54
Jessica
We have green beans, right? We canned green beans, but it wasn't until I was older I found out that she didn't eat any of them. and She canned all these green beans.
00:18:00
Plant People
she Did she eat the bacon out of the green beans?
00:18:02
Jessica
Yeah, I think so. um But, you know, it wasn't until it's funny, they've teased me at work about it. Like I went to like college and I had more of like this, like food awakening, like exposure of like getting to try all these new foods versus like, I don't know, wasn't as big into partying. Right. So I was just like, oh, cool. What's an avocado?
00:18:25
Jessica
This is great. You know, like thinking, thinking like I knew,
00:18:27
Plant People
Let's party, avocado.
00:18:28
Alexis
Who needs to party when there's avocados?
00:18:30
Jessica
There's avocados and there's like ah fruit different fruits and vegetables and stuff.
00:18:31
Brett
Can you...
00:18:31
Plant People
mean, seriously.
00:18:31
Brett
it
00:18:35
Jessica
And then also working at that research farm had that exposure to it. And now, of course, I love that stuff. And hopefully my kids, they, they seem to enjoy vegetables.
00:18:47
Alexis
Well, one of your sons asked for carrots and hummus for his birthday. So I feel like you're doing a good thing.
00:18:51
Jessica
small Thank you. He's very passionate about carrots and hummus.
00:18:55
Brett
but can you
00:18:56
Plant People
Something's working.
00:18:57
Brett
Can you remember other like, ah foods in general, but you know, vegetables or whatever that you had those besides avocado that you had those awakening moments about like dishes, or I'm very curious about this. because
00:19:10
Jessica
Like...
00:19:10
Brett
Some people point point and say like, you know, kids have to be exposed to this when they're young. Otherwise they won't like it or whatever. And I think that there's, there is some stuff about that, but there's also this other element of having multiple acts and your acts in your life that you can change past.
00:19:25
Brett
So any memories about that?
00:19:25
Jessica
Right. I can, I can think about, well, one, just, we and I talk about this all the time, just work like having vegetables in their peak ripeness. Right.
00:19:35
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:35
Brett
Hmm.
00:19:36
Jessica
Like I'd had a tomato before, but I was like, but now this past month I've ate so many tomatoes that I was just like, I think my teeth are getting sensitive.
00:19:42
Plant People
Same, yeah Do you carry a salt shaker in your vehicle When you're harvesting?
00:19:44
Jessica
i need to slow it down because, ah I don't, yeah, like they're that good. um
00:19:52
Plant People
I did, yeah Hmm
00:19:53
Jessica
Or like, or cantaloupes or watermelons. Like I didn't really care for those before, but I had never had like a truly one that was actually ripe, you know, like um something else.
00:20:03
Plant People
Hmm
00:20:06
Jessica
so I was just lost my train of thought of like one of those other, Oh, like I've had broccoli.
00:20:09
Brett
You just start thinking about tomatoes.
00:20:11
Jessica
Yeah.
00:20:11
Brett
Hmm.
00:20:11
Plant People
Amen.
00:20:11
Jessica
was thinking about tomatoes, broccoli. Like I had it growing up, but it was always like in a casserole.
00:20:15
Alexis
Cooked to death.
00:20:17
Brett
Hmm.
00:20:17
Jessica
Right.
00:20:17
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:20:18
Jessica
So then having just broccoli or Brussels sprouts, like um roasted, game changing, roasted vegetables. Right.
00:20:28
Jessica
So one of those that was, you know, just being able to like cook more on my own and cook with other people who had different, up you know, with my roommates who had different upbringings and stuff. So it's pretty cool.
00:20:42
Brett
Yeah. Well, so staying on this theme of institutions and diet and food and vegetables and all that kind of stuff.
Health Benefits of CSA Vouchers
00:20:49
Brett
um There's been some research through um associated with the CCD, Dr. Tim Woods and Dr. Jaris Rossi working with some workplace wellness programs and specifically sponsoring CSA vouchers. So CSA program in general,
00:21:06
Brett
You pay upfront, you may pay, you know, let's say $700 at the beginning of the season and you get a season, a weekly share throughout the course of the season. Well, there's this project, these projects, and you can read about these um on our website where the employer like UK, for instance, UK is a self-insured employer. So they pay for their, they pay for their employees insurance as part of the benefits package. And they, they have their own internal thing anyway.
00:21:32
Brett
They would put up 200 bucks to me, UK employee, and I've taken advantage of this every year that they've offered it um to get a CSA share. And so at the beginning of the year, I don't owe $700. I just owe $500. And what they found is in that process of kicking in that money for every dollar that was invested in CSA vouchers,
00:21:54
Brett
They actually saved $2 and 47 cents in diet related medical expenses for the people who were starting out the program in poor health. So in other words, if you started in poor health, you did a CSA, the voucher pushed you over the edge.
00:22:02
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:22:07
Brett
You actually saw some health improvement and some saved expenses. And this has been one of the you know key rallying points for trying to support those types of programs. But it's another example where a lot of times in the United States, we get caught up, I think, in like personal choice, personal choice. And there's a big place for that. But there's also a huge place, I think, for conversations around institutions and how we can better ah create environments. So what do you all have any reactions to that?
00:22:34
Alexis
I think CSA is fun too, because for most of them, I mean, there is some choice in, you know, some of the bigger farms, but it's like you get what you get. And if you've never tried chard before, then you're probably gonna, you know, they send recipes and stuff along with them.
00:22:47
Plant People
yeah
00:22:47
Alexis
Then, you know, you've never tried chard before, or you have tried it, but it's been real weird, but you paid for this. So you're gonna eat it somehow.
00:22:53
Plant People
Yeah.
00:22:54
Alexis
And then ah try something new, um you know, ah with that, which is when I was getting a CSA, um you know, that was always, something fun to try something new. And like like luckily all the CSAs I've been a part of, when they send something weird or just, you know, not not something that most people eat, they would always send a recipe like, here, if you've not tried this very strange zucchini cucumber thing, try
CSA's Role in Food Exploration
00:23:23
Alexis
it this way.
00:23:24
Plant People
It ah makes you reach and ah kind of grow a little bit in some cases, grow your food palette or whatever. It makes you try things. I mean, and now it's information on new recipes is readily available. If you did get a recipe, great.
00:23:38
Plant People
If you didn't, you can get a hold of those um through various methods.
00:23:40
Alexis
Mhm
00:23:42
Plant People
But I think CSAs are pretty cool when I talk to people at the farmer's market and they get such and such. in their shares that they're not used to using, they say, well, that really forced us to kind of think about it. And and then it became a thing where we kind of searched and we really liked this, that we never would have tried.
00:23:57
Plant People
And that's a really cool kind of effect of a CSAs is, and I hear that all the time that people say, I never would have tried this or that unless it was in my, and now we eat it all the time.
00:24:08
Plant People
And that's a really kind of a cool thing that comes out of CSAs sometimes, I think like you're saying, Alexis.
00:24:15
Alexis
I don't have any data in front of me to back it up, but I think it's being of, sorry, have to look that up and shoot you some references later.
00:24:20
Brett
Loser.
00:24:22
Plant People
anecdotal
00:24:26
Alexis
But and I think the same could,
00:24:27
Brett
Please do. APA apa format, please.
00:24:30
Plant People
please rigor
00:24:32
Alexis
12 point put up. um I think that the same thing could probably be said about flowers, and even though it's, you know, speaking of CSA, I know it's not it's not something they're eating like physical health and wellness.
00:24:45
Alexis
But, you know you've got people who maybe will get a csf flower CSA. share as a gift, right, for you know Christmas or a birthday or something. It's not normally something they would buy for themselves, but they're you know picking up these flowers every week. They realize how much happier it makes them when they see them and they walk into a room.
00:25:03
Alexis
you know a lot You hear a lot of people say that flowers make them feel like they have their act together. Like there's something about having a nice vase of flowers. Even if the kitchen is a mess, you have a nice vase of flowers in there it just kind of makes you, gives you a little Martha Stewart vibe. You know, you're like, you know what?
00:25:20
Plant People
A little boost.
00:25:20
Alexis
I'm not, I've got something together here. It's like one, It's like when all your plates match or all your dishes match. When I turned 30, I was like, I want my dishes to match. um But I think, you know, there's a a sense of, you know wellness that goes along even you know with flowers.
00:25:38
Alexis
need to see if there's been some research done specifically on that. There's lots of good flower research out there, but I feel like it's several years behind the, even the vegetable stuff up for obvious reasons.
00:25:50
Brett
Yeah. Well, as I was looking this stuff up, I was sending, I was sending our CCD team little tidbits that I was finding here and there. And one of them was that, let's see here, flower colors in blue and white have been found to be the most relaxing.
00:26:02
Alexis
Yes.
00:26:03
Plant People
Pretty calming.
00:26:04
Brett
Orange, white, yellow, and red were the most uplifting.
00:26:07
Plant People
Energy.
00:26:08
Brett
a respond Here's the thing, though. it's We're all people. you know We all have our preferences. A respondent's favorite color of flower promoted restorative effects at the highest level for that individual. So, you know, we do, you know, you like what you like and don't be ashamed
Flowers as Social Antidepressants
00:26:22
Brett
of that.
00:26:22
Brett
You know, that's something um I think, you know, if I were marketing ah a weekly CSA or sorry, a weekly flower CSA, I'd be like, son, give the gift of a weekly antidepressant.
00:26:34
Brett
Give the week gift of a weekly smile. Get the give the gift of a weekly be able to talk to your coworkers and get through the week better sociability thing.
00:26:42
Alexis
Bye.
00:26:44
Brett
Yeah. But one of the things, Ray, you mentioned about multiple people, multiple multiple of you all mentioned about the like pushing people to try new things or pushing people to eat maybe a little bit different vegetables or different things than what they're used to. One of the things that.
00:26:59
Brett
in some of that CSA research from out of yeah out of the University of Kentucky. One of the ah interesting things is that um the biggest increase in consumption as far as specific vegetables was salads, because you do get a lot of greens in the CSA, um lettuces and kales and other greens.
00:27:13
Plant People
Hmm.
00:27:17
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:27:21
Brett
And, and these are, you know, I, I grew up on iceberg salad mix, you know, and so no, no snobby shade, but this is not iceberg lettuce. These are nutrient phytonutrient dense greens um that you, you know, you feel you start to glow after you eat enough of them.
00:27:39
Brett
And that's important because of this next statistic, which is really interesting. So the brains of people who eat higher amounts of leafy greens compared to peers decline slower, such that the brains of the highest leafy green eaters appear on imaging up to 11 years younger.
00:28:02
Alexis
Wow.
00:28:03
Jessica
That's crazy.
00:28:04
Brett
Isn't that crazy?
00:28:04
Alexis
11, imagine gaining 11 more years of like cognitive, cognitive ability in your age. Like that's incredible.
00:28:10
Brett
Yeah.
00:28:10
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:28:12
Brett
I mean, you could also think of it as immaturity.
00:28:12
Alexis
Eat more. Eat more greens.
00:28:14
Brett
you know i have but i've got the brain I've got the brain of a 12-year-old.
00:28:16
Jessica
True. True.
00:28:18
Plant People
a iver of Too much salads, Brent. Too much salads.
00:28:23
Brett
Too much salad.
00:28:24
Plant People
Lay off the salad.
00:28:24
Brett
Yeah. This guy keeps laughing at fart jokes.
00:28:25
Plant People
Yeah, lay off the salad. you
00:28:27
Brett
Give him less charge, less...
00:28:27
Plant People
the the The tipping point has occurred, Brent.
00:28:28
Alexis
It explains a lot of your jokes, Brett.
00:28:31
Plant People
You're bell curve, you're on the other side of that and I'm maturing.
00:28:32
Alexis
Your vegan years explain a lot of your jokes.
00:28:35
Brett
while we're While we're in the realm of the of the dietary, ah this is one that I think is you know kind of goes around a good bit.
00:28:36
Plant People
It's all the kale.
00:28:42
Brett
But for every two cups of additional fruit and vegetables that you eat, your overall mortality risk, your overall risk of just dying from anything goes down by 10%.
00:28:55
Brett
Your risk of stroke goes down by 16% and your risk of heart disease goes down by 8%. And the thing is, this this benefit accrues all the way up to eight cups of fruit and the vegetables. So in other words, if you eat two, you are 10% less likely to die than someone who had eight zero.
00:29:14
Brett
And if you go to four, then you're 10% less likely to die, et cetera. and So like there's a stacking effect.
00:29:20
Alexis
Or
00:29:20
Plant People
Hmm.
00:29:21
Brett
Our dietician friends would say, servings add up or servings really make an impact or something. But um it's just one of these...
00:29:28
Alexis
something.
00:29:29
Brett
sort of these like Sometimes we, I think we can get jaded and lose sight in our diet driven culture or our youth driven culture whatever, but there really is an element here of like quality of life and feeling good has tremendous value.
00:29:33
Jessica
Thank you.
00:29:45
Brett
And it's not just economic value. It's not just we're saving money for the health insurance companies. It's, wow, I feel better. i feel sharper. I feel less tired.
00:29:53
Plant People
And
00:29:54
Brett
I feel like I don't i don't have headaches, they know hypertension headaches and all those things. you know and And I think that there is it's good to remind ourselves sometimes in a health-obsessed culture that health is pretty cool, actually.
00:30:09
Plant People
and I think that's what, oh God, no.
00:30:09
Alexis
I just want to be able to like, ah oh sorry, I'm going to say something silly to your probably intelligent comment. but So I just want to be able to like jump down out of a chair without my knees hurting too bad.
00:30:21
Alexis
like
00:30:22
Plant People
Yes, please.
00:30:23
Alexis
If that means I can just, if I eat an extra salad couple times a week, I'm in.
00:30:28
Plant People
It's not going to hurt.
00:30:29
Alexis
Okay.
00:30:33
Plant People
No, the only thing I was going to say that, and I've heard FCS agents, family consumer sciences agent within the university say this, and it's something that stuck with me. and we've We've talked about CSAs, you know, as one aspect of the conversation. But the cool thing about CSAs is this, as it relates to eating, they talk about you have to be exposed to something so many times to form a habit.
00:30:54
Plant People
And then CSAs, if it's an eight or 10 week CSA and you're exposed every week to some kind of salad material or something that's appropriate to go in a salad, they say you stand a much bigger chance of actually developing a habit that's going to have some longevity. And I get that, that's sort of tracked in my brain.
00:31:12
Plant People
I was like, then you get used to fixing something and then you get used to putting it on the quick pick list for your shopping app. And then you start picking that up even when the CSA goes away.
00:31:23
Plant People
And I thought, dang, that's, that's pretty cool because that is going to develop into something that's got some legs. It's going to have some longevity to it.
00:31:32
Jessica
Thank you.
00:31:33
Plant People
I mean, if you're exposed to something once a try and you're like, wow, that's really good. But if you're exposed to that for 10 weeks, it becomes a normal sort of thing that you just do. ah So that, I thought that was really awesome as far as the that's an aspect of a CSA and some of the good, local, healthy food, fresh food that you're getting.
00:31:53
Plant People
ah Really cool thing. And maybe their knees aren't going to pop and lock or pop. I'm sorry, not pop and lock. Yeah. Their their knees going to pop like mine do.
00:31:58
Jessica
You might want to pop and lock.
00:31:59
Alexis
When they pop, lock, and drop, they get back up.
00:31:59
Jessica
Yeah.
00:31:59
Plant People
yeah Yeah. You may be able to, Hey, maybe 11 years longer than you normally would be able to pop and lock.
00:32:01
Alexis
That's the...
00:32:05
Alexis
Just imagine being able to pop, lock, and drop it 11 more years.
00:32:06
Plant People
ah That is not research. That is not research based.
00:32:09
Jessica
Yep.
00:32:10
Plant People
I'm going to have to talk to a kinesiologist about that and get get confirmation from that. But maybe that's a bit but that's a benefit.
00:32:15
Brett
i do I do think you can pop, lock, and and drop it at any age. It's a matter of whether you can lift it back up off.
00:32:22
Alexis
Yes.
00:32:23
Plant People
Whether it lifts it back a yes.
00:32:24
Alexis
It's the popping back up.
00:32:25
Brett
Yeah.
00:32:25
Plant People
It's the lifting.
00:32:26
Brett
If it unlocks, will it unlock?
00:32:27
Plant People
the
00:32:28
Alexis
Pop, long, drops up.
00:32:28
Brett
We don't know.
00:32:29
Plant People
You can perform any of those moves once.
00:32:30
Brett
Will it pop back to where it once was? i don't...
00:32:32
Alexis
And then roll.
00:32:33
Plant People
Yeah. it's i've got the I'm at the stage in my life where I'm the pop and stop. Because if it pops, I'm stopping. Yeah.
00:32:39
Alexis
pop blog drops up
00:32:41
Plant People
Yes, the the stop.
00:32:41
Alexis
and then roll
00:32:42
Plant People
don't Don't confuse that with a stop, drop, and roll. This is the pop, lock, and stop maneuver. Yes.
00:32:49
Brett
Well, Ray, you've...
00:32:49
Alexis
Because cause your hit your back is ah so locked up that you have to stop.
00:32:53
Plant People
Yes, I'm stopping at this point. Yes.
00:32:55
Brett
Just stop. It's just a stop. Hard stop.
00:32:58
Plant People
A hard stop.
00:32:58
Brett
ah well ray Ray, you made me... You you triggered my annual um ode to peaches, to seasonal peaches um with your...
00:33:09
Alexis
Ode to peaches.
00:33:09
Jessica
oh
00:33:09
Plant People
it's tough it It is time.
00:33:10
Brett
with your
00:33:10
Jessica
Yama.
00:33:11
Plant People
it is time.
00:33:12
Brett
that so Because we've been the with your idea of like, oh, you get used to it or you like sort of you know have that. We have had ah big thing of we we go out, I don't know, maybe once a week and get a big thing of peaches. um
00:33:25
Plant People
Wow, that's a lot of pizza.
00:33:25
Brett
And these are coming in from out of state, but they're at least from the region and they're seasonal.
00:33:30
Plant People
Yeah, sure.
00:33:30
Brett
ah And we've had them now for, I don't really know, months it feels like months. And I'm so used to it and I'm not over it and I'll never be over it.
00:33:41
Brett
but it's coming, it's coming to a conclusion.
Seasonal Love for Peaches
00:33:44
Brett
And that's an example of now I've built this habit that I am not going to be able to fulfill.
00:33:49
Plant People
Oh, man.
00:33:50
Brett
i mean, I got, I'll just transition to apples.
00:33:50
Jessica
Alright.
00:33:52
Brett
I'll wean myself off of peaches onto apples and act like, and he prefers apples. my My wife prefers apples. I'll just act like, Oh yeah, it's the same. It's not the same.
00:34:02
Plant People
Well, maybe you can get like the sweeter end of apples.
00:34:03
Brett
It's not the same.
00:34:03
Jessica
right
00:34:05
Plant People
Because good thing about apples is there's a tart spectrum and then this sweeter. space So maybe you could.
00:34:10
Brett
I think it's a texture thing.
00:34:11
Plant People
I know it's not a direct thing. Okay.
00:34:12
Alexis
Yeah, it's definitely like a crunch versus like a juicy piece.
00:34:13
Brett
I think it's a texture thing.
00:34:13
Plant People
Okay.
00:34:14
Jessica
and like, Brett, you and my son could sit in a corner and cry together because we had a lot of peaches as well. And then they're done, right? We don't have them anymore. And he still asks, like, why can't we have another peach? And I'm like, because a peach is a special thing and they're done. Yeah.
00:34:32
Jessica
We have to wait ti till next year. And he's been very sad about that. He is learning at almost five years old about seasonal crops. Same thing with the cherries. Cherry season is over.
00:34:42
Brett
Oh yeah.
00:34:42
Jessica
We can no longer get those cherries because those are going to be gross.
00:34:42
Alexis
Yep.
00:34:46
Jessica
they better
00:34:46
Plant People
Brett what are you saying on canned peaches Brett How about you Jessica your family Yeah yeah okay Fresh versus canned
00:34:47
Alexis
Yep.
00:34:49
Brett
I like, I like canned peaches. I do. It's a different thing. They're just, they're just different things.
00:34:54
Alexis
to
00:34:55
Brett
It's like a fresh green bean and a canned green bean. I love canned green beans. I love fresh green beans, but they're not the same. They're not the same thing.
00:35:00
Alexis
yeah
00:35:01
Plant People
Yeah that is a True Cream corn is very sweet But it's not sweet corn by itself Yeah I get it Sure
00:35:01
Jessica
Same thing with sweet corn. Yep.
00:35:03
Brett
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
00:35:04
Alexis
yeah
00:35:06
Brett
That's yeah. I love them both. They're different product.
00:35:14
Plant People
The season of sadness is coming up, a.k.a. the peach-free season. right.
00:35:18
Jessica
yeah
00:35:19
Brett
Yeah, well, so i can't I cannot say that this next tip will prevent heartbreak related ambulance calls for me, but I can say that areas that have 5% or more tree canopy cover had 80% fewer heat related ambulance calls.
Health Benefits of Tree Canopy
00:35:45
Plant People
That seems to track.
00:35:45
Alexis
So wait, is that correlation or causation?
00:35:48
Plant People
The two are not the same. Ooh,
00:35:51
Brett
Association.
00:35:52
Alexis
Association.
00:35:53
Plant People
I like that.
00:35:53
Jessica
um
00:35:53
Plant People
Proximity association.
00:35:55
Brett
Yeah. I would say it would be difficult to to prove that, but so areas with you compare areas that have more than 5% tree canopy cover, like in a neighborhood with areas that have less than that, that seems to be like a tipping point.
00:35:55
Plant People
so now what was...
00:35:58
Alexis
Yeah, yeah.
00:36:08
Plant People
Okay.
00:36:08
Brett
The areas that have more canopy cover have 80% fewer heat related ambulance calls.
00:36:08
Plant People
Okay.
00:36:12
Brett
And when we have crazy heat waves, huh?
00:36:13
Plant People
I kind of ah cant feel that. yeah
00:36:15
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:36:16
Plant People
It's sort of a functional thing.
00:36:16
Brett
Yeah.
00:36:18
Plant People
But when I go to a zoo, I will pick a zoo that or a theme park or whatever. I will pick one that has more shade because that's the dad in me that doesn't want to.
00:36:25
Jessica
Very true, Rae. I do the same thing.
00:36:27
Plant People
I mean, do you do that? I do that.
00:36:29
Jessica
Yeah.
00:36:29
Plant People
I'm like, okay, now you know that that doesn't have a lot of shade at XYZ Place. Let's go to this. I pick my, if I have my choice.
00:36:36
Alexis
Q, Ray, and I walking around an arboretum and luckily it's an arboretum.
00:36:39
Plant People
Yes.
00:36:40
Alexis
So there's lots of trees, but we were like finding every ounce of shade there was and like standing really close together in small shaded areas.
00:36:42
Plant People
thank
00:36:45
Plant People
Yes. Perfect.
00:36:48
Alexis
Cause we were like, we can't stand in the sun.
00:36:48
Plant People
We were just looking out for our health. Yes. ah Yes. Exactly. But oh, yes, that breadt that one makes sense.
00:36:54
Alexis
I believe that I am. when I worked in, as an agent, uh, I worked on a program where we, um, planted trees every year. it was a plant for part of a grant from KU, which is Kentucky Utilities, and called Plant for the Planet.
00:37:13
Alexis
And we would get matching funds from people in the city. And so I think in my, you know, 10 year stint of like, and being on the probe, that program, that team, and We planted about 500 trees throughout Danville and and we got, we kind of ran out of space because Danville had a lot of old trees. And so even though it was supposed to be like city funds that were using it for We ended up like pushing it out further into some of the smaller communities that, you know, maybe didn't have like the sort of funding and we're able to push that out with, you know, of course, permission from people who donated, but it was really exciting. And the whole goal was that we want to shade every walk, walking area in the city for people who wanted to be able to, you know, travel if they didn't have a car, if they just wanted to go for a walk and better their health and all these things.
00:38:05
Alexis
And a lot of people, you know, Towards the end, those yeah those trees that we planted that first year, they're 10 years old, starting to really ah shade things. And, you know, they it was much more pleasant to be downtown with all the trees.
00:38:19
Plant People
Absolutely.
00:38:21
Alexis
Stormwater, all that jazz.
00:38:21
Brett
Yeah. just Just to give you a sense. So I said 5%, this was 5% difference. um So like the city of Lexington, the core of the city of Lexington, if you're familiar with it is about 25% canopy covered with some of our neighborhoods, you know, above 30%.
00:38:33
Alexis
Hmm.
00:38:37
Brett
And so I was just, just double checking to make sure that I had those, those figures, right. So, I mean, 5%, I mean, you're not, you're not asking for a ton and that, that amount can make a big difference.
00:38:43
Alexis
It's not a lot.
00:38:44
Plant People
No.
00:38:45
Brett
And there was it's reminding me of our recent, our recent, ah conversation with our friend ah Jack Baggett about Tree City USA and
Ecosystem Services of Trees
00:38:57
Brett
all of the, ah if you haven't checked out that episode and you're interested in that kind of stuff, just talking about urban forestry and urban reforest reforestation.
00:38:57
Plant People
one
00:39:05
Brett
um we had We had a program that the city was offering where they were putting in trees that would be good shade trees for this exact reason.
00:39:08
Jessica
you
00:39:13
Brett
Because
00:39:14
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:39:14
Brett
There's all kinds of other cascading ah effects of trees in terms of slowing rainwater runoff.
00:39:14
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:39:21
Plant People
oh
00:39:22
Brett
And we talked about this on a previous episode too with our our friend, former hort culture host, ah Josh Knight. There's a publication about the ecosystem services of trees.
00:39:35
Brett
And one of the things that's crazy and the way that he described it, I think is is really evocative is like, imagine that you that it rains and it's then it stops raining and you go outside and you reach up and you grab a branch of one of the trees that's outside and you shake it while you're standing under it.
00:39:36
Alexis
and
00:39:52
Brett
You're going get soaked. And what happens is not only is the tree soaking up the water through its roots and using the water and all that kind of stuff, but it's literally storing a bunch of water on its leaves and in its structure, which then slows down the amount of water that goes out, which slows down flooding, slows down runoff, slows down all those things. And it's just this really, obviously, i have an insane love of trees ah compared to the average person, but I think that they are also very easy to love. How about that?
00:40:20
Alexis
hey
00:40:21
Plant People
There you go.
00:40:21
Brett
Uh, yeah.
00:40:22
Plant People
It's an easy thing.
00:40:23
Brett
So I, maybe I thought we would close out the episode with a little bit of, of, uh, trivia guessing. I don't know what, uh, this is not, this is not health statistics now.
00:40:31
Alexis
Eww!
00:40:34
Brett
All that's behind us. Now we're getting into the, um, the heartwarming science of economics. Um, that was a joke.
00:40:42
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:40:44
Plant People
Is there that side?
00:40:44
Brett
Uh, um, so
00:40:45
Plant People
Hmm.
Economic Changes in Farmers Market Prices
00:40:48
Brett
I went and and looked at you know the CCD, our organization. I mentioned we've been around for 25 years. We have been collecting price reports from farmers markets and other markets for 21 of those 25 ah those twenty five years um and so I wanted you all to guess how much do you think the average price at all reporting markets, farmers markets,
00:41:15
Brett
the average price in 2004 for one pound of tomatoes and that same average price for one pound of tomatoes in 2024. Do you have any guesses? Start the clock, Alexis.
00:41:30
Plant People
Gosh, I would not because, man, volume versus per pound.
00:41:34
Jessica
I know what there's yeah and know what they're selling on for now per pound.
00:41:35
Plant People
Yeah.
00:41:37
Brett
Per pound.
00:41:40
Brett
And this is all markets, all markets.
00:41:40
Plant People
So back what So Jessica, let's say, knowing your community and knowing some urban markets are in here, we could add 15% to get an adjusted current price and then back that off by
00:41:42
Brett
So it includes the rural markets that have the lower price.
00:41:43
Jessica
Yeah.
00:41:45
Brett
And this is the overall seasonal average.
00:41:59
Plant People
35% to get an adjusted backwards price. So
00:42:03
Jessica
That's a lot of math right now.
00:42:05
Brett
you could also just You can also just guess.
00:42:06
Plant People
ma I was going to say, I was just saying makeup numbers is what I was going for makeup numbers.
00:42:06
Jessica
um we We could just guess.
00:42:07
Brett
We could we could take the McTreathe as it seriously is.
00:42:09
Jessica
Let's do $1.50 pound.
00:42:10
Brett
Okay, so your guess for 2004 was $1.50.
00:42:10
Jessica
say $1.50. $1.00. No.
00:42:12
Plant People
Yes.
00:42:13
Jessica
I'm going to $1.50.
00:42:13
Alexis
In 2004?
00:42:14
Jessica
Tackett.
00:42:15
Brett
two thousand and four was a dollar fifty Is that right? We we should do it Price is Right style. So if you go over, you bust.
00:42:20
Jessica
one dollar no um
00:42:21
Brett
If you don't...
00:42:24
Jessica
i go do a dollar fifty
00:42:24
Alexis
Okay, $1.58. What about you, Ray?
00:42:27
Brett
Okay.
00:42:30
Brett
Oh, you did the wrong thing.
00:42:30
Jessica
attack it
00:42:32
Brett
Okay.
00:42:33
Plant People
Yeah, i went the wrong way.
00:42:37
Brett
Alexis, you got a guess?
00:42:38
Alexis
i feel like I know too much. I feel like I'm too deep into this, to be fair.
00:42:40
Plant People
the
00:42:42
Brett
The answer for 2004 tomatoes, $1.25 a pound.
00:42:50
Jessica
Ray.
00:42:50
Alexis
I
00:42:51
Brett
You both went over.
00:42:51
Plant People
Jessica's like, shut up.
00:42:51
Brett
You both busted.
00:42:52
Plant People
Yeah, we did.
00:42:53
Brett
We have no one to compete in the showcase.
00:42:53
Plant People
we did
00:42:53
Jessica
That's right.
00:42:54
Brett
so
00:42:54
Jessica
We didn't, yeah, make it to the showcase.
00:42:55
Brett
What about 2024?
00:42:55
Alexis
i was going to say a dollar, so...
00:42:55
Brett
about 2024? What about 2024? but about twenty twenty four
00:42:59
Jessica
ah
00:43:00
Plant People
oh
00:43:02
Jessica
I'm going to say I probably, I might be, if this is average across state, I'd be going over, but $3.
00:43:06
Plant People
the Are these seasonal averages? Is this across the entire season?
00:43:10
Brett
Seasonal average, entire state, urban and rural markets all kind combined, but what weighted is individual markets.
00:43:11
Plant People
I was going to say about 250 to 275.
00:43:17
Jessica
Oh yeah, I was like, yeah, $250 maybe.
00:43:19
Brett
No, $3.13 per pound average.
00:43:22
Plant People
Dang, good, good. i'm I'm proud of that.
00:43:24
Brett
yeah
00:43:25
Plant People
I was going low because if you adjust that forward for inflation and time and everything, it should probably be more than that. But I was going low knowing how these things go.
00:43:33
Alexis
Like $60 a pound.
00:43:33
Jessica
I feel like it's more than that this year.
00:43:35
Brett
okay
00:43:38
Brett
you all want to Do you all want another price kind of uplifting fun one or do you want one that's a little more of a downer?
00:43:44
Jessica
oh
00:43:45
Plant People
well downer, we're going to know.
00:43:46
Jessica
Preferably a fun one.
00:43:46
Alexis
Fun, fun, fun.
00:43:48
Plant People
End on a good note.
00:43:49
Brett
Fun one?
00:43:49
Jessica
Yeah.
00:43:49
Plant People
Yeah.
00:43:50
Brett
Okay, we'll do a fun one.
00:43:50
Jessica
Yeah.
00:43:51
Brett
but Why don't we do a downer and then we'll end on a fun one. How about that?
00:43:54
Alexis
Okay, okay, sandwich
00:43:54
Jessica
Okay.
00:43:56
Brett
what
00:43:56
Alexis
Compliment sandwich.
00:43:57
Brett
What percent would you guess... the increase in fertilizer costs on average has been from 2000 to the year 2025. It's
00:44:11
Plant People
Yeah.
00:44:11
Alexis
five hundred percent
00:44:12
Plant People
Across all like nutrients or just.
00:44:15
Brett
it just that, yeah, just and kind of an average of all of them.
00:44:16
Plant People
okay Oh, Two, 200%. Let's go double. Eat nice round number.
00:44:21
Jessica
I'll do a hundred percent, but I feel like it's more, ah feel like it's higher than that.
00:44:26
Brett
average Average fertilizer costs increased 224% between 2000 and 2025.
00:44:33
Plant People
Jeez. Wow.
00:44:34
Brett
and twenty twenty five That's not adjusted for inflation.
00:44:34
Jessica
Wow.
00:44:34
Plant People
It's wild. <unk>s wild
00:44:36
Brett
So it it um somewhere between doubling and tripling. Okay, we'll end on ah on a positive one here. um How about... Oh, I got so many good ones though.
00:44:47
Brett
um
00:44:48
Plant People
the data nerds coming
00:44:48
Brett
Okay. We'll just, we'll just go, we'll bring it back. You know, ah we were talking about green beans. We're talking about Jessica's ah mom canning green beans, but not eating them. Beans are, and you know, a quintessential Kentucky crop, a staple at farmer's markets. 2004 average price per pound.
00:45:07
Brett
For beans in Kentucky at farmer's markets. same Same thing as the tomatoes. All markets across the state. Seasonal average. Per pound. Average price. 2004. Keep in mind. Tomatoes
00:45:19
Plant People
Oh gosh.
00:45:20
Brett
were $1.25 a pound.
00:45:20
Alexis
I have no idea how much we can cost.
00:45:20
Brett
2004.
00:45:23
Jessica
75 cents.
00:45:23
Brett
in two thousand four
00:45:23
Jessica
Wow.
00:45:25
Plant People
I was going to say I was in a very rural market at that time. So mine would have been, well, I guess we're doing an average though. You're probably pretty close, Jessica. Mine would have been a little lower. would have went 60 cents where I was at, but I'm in a very, I was in a very different, very different market
00:45:37
Brett
No.
00:45:43
Jessica
wow
00:45:44
Brett
Beans went for $1.53 per pound in 2004 at reporting markets.
00:45:48
Alexis
da
00:45:50
Brett
More per pound than tomatoes, which kind of makes sense to me and in two thousand and twenty four
00:45:54
Plant People
Well, there's more of them. Yeah. 221%. Hmm.
00:45:55
Brett
two thousand And in 2024, 2024 pound per pound price. I'll give you a hint. It follows the trend of relative to tomatoes and tomatoes were $3.13 per pound in
00:46:00
Alexis
you know
00:46:06
Plant People
two hundred and twenty one percent
00:46:07
Alexis
350. 375. Dang!
00:46:11
Alexis
three seventy five
00:46:12
Brett
$3.97 pound for beans on average in
00:46:15
Alexis
everything
00:46:17
Plant People
Okay.
00:46:17
Brett
at our farmers markets in kentucky
00:46:18
Plant People
Which makes more sense because a lot of that probably as much as anything is just consumer preference on quantity plays into that too, I bet.
00:46:19
Jessica
Yeah.
00:46:27
Plant People
I mean, like just, we personally sold by the volume by bushel.
00:46:27
Brett
yeah
00:46:30
Plant People
So pound to me, I'm like, Oh, I'm out of touch with that as far as over to over the change over time. But does that track, uh, Brett, do you know right off, does that track based on what input costs?
00:46:41
Plant People
I mean, if you're following like a, an actual realistic track of input output,
00:46:47
Brett
um my My assumption is that most of that is, is labor associated, like associated with labor.
00:46:50
Plant People
Yeah, the big inputs.
00:46:52
Jessica
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:46:52
Brett
um I don't know. Cause the farmer's market prices well, let's just do a quick math.
00:46:57
Plant People
Yeah, I don't know. That's a pretty complex question.
00:46:58
Brett
Yeah, it is about, it is about on par.
00:47:00
Plant People
Is it? in a Good.
00:47:01
Brett
ah Beans, beans are a little, a little faster, a little, are a little, the price went up a little bit more.
00:47:01
Plant People
Good.
00:47:06
Brett
If it's like me, it's cause they got tired of picking them. And if somebody wants to pay them $4 a pound, then I'll pick them.
00:47:10
Alexis
Yeah.
00:47:11
Plant People
yeah Listen, you're going to pay for it Yeah, yeah, there you go.
00:47:12
Brett
But otherwise,
00:47:14
Alexis
yeah
00:47:15
Brett
Yeah. Well, I appreciate you all indulging my, my concept here for some, just some fun, uh, statistical rundown. So these, these will be eventually on a poster and some other formats that are, um, events coming up. And we'll also have those, those posters we'll be taking around to different events throughout the state, um, in the coming months and years. So you'll be able to check them out and scan a QR code to get the, the, um, citations. Cause I know we're all very hardcore, um, citations needed here.
00:47:43
Alexis
first
00:47:43
Brett
um Yeah.
Engagement and Feedback Encouragement
00:47:46
Brett
Cool. that i you
00:47:46
Plant People
Fun stuff.
00:47:47
Brett
That's all. That's all. That's all. All the statistics that I have ah come.
00:47:50
Plant People
All the stats for today.
00:47:51
Brett
Yes.
00:47:52
Alexis
Now everybody has great trivia things that they can share at a party where they bring a salad and they can share trivia about how their salad is going to make you live 11 times longer.
00:47:59
Plant People
Then do economic statistical trivia.
00:48:01
Brett
Yeah. And if, if you're going to, and if you're going to play trivial pursuit at a party, feed yourself salad before, but don't feed anyone else salad and you'll have a competitive advantage.
00:48:03
Alexis
long
00:48:13
Plant People
Feed your brain.
00:48:14
Brett
You're, you're, you will be reverse aging your brain in order to
00:48:14
Jessica
Have the advantage.
00:48:14
Plant People
That's right.
00:48:18
Brett
so when
00:48:19
Plant People
And where your shirt that says kill ya.
00:48:21
Alexis
Words of wisdom from Mr. Brett Wolfe today. But, well, we thank you for being with us today and having this in your earbuds. Hopefully you're, you know, getting some plant stuff happening while you're listening to us. That's one of my favorite times to listen to podcasts is when my hands are in the dirt.
00:48:39
Alexis
ah So I hope that you are getting some of that as well. here lately. Follow us on Instagram at Horde Culture Podcast, and I need to be posting more on there.
00:48:50
Alexis
We've got lot of cool things we've talked about lately, and I just need to get on it. So I apologize, but we do check messages because I do get updates on that. So if you have any thoughts, ah please feel free to share those. You can also shoot us email. We've been getting more lately. We really appreciate you guys reaching out with ideas of people to interview or just things you want to listen to.
00:49:10
Alexis
ah Otherwise, it's just us for goofballs coming up with something. So we we love having that. So send it our way. If you think of something that we might like, you can also leave us a review, which helps other people find us. You can also send us ideas of things that they want to hear and people ah that they want to hear from. Well, we really appreciate you spending some time with us and we hope that you join us next time.
00:49:33
Alexis
Have a great one.