We invite you to open up one hand, nice and wide—and then, with your other hand, place one single beautiful beet into your palm, ideally a just harvested one. If you don’t have one, imagine that you do. Now, in a very real sense, you’re holding the world in your hand.

If you’re a fan of classic movies, you probably have seen the 1937 film, Shall We Dance, where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers perform a song titled “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” As part of the lyrics, the two sang about how one of them said “tomato” with a long “A” sound, while the other one pronounced the same word using the “A” sound like in the word “darling.”

The phrase of “products with purpose” is finding its way into more news stories, more discussions within a company—including at The Chef’s Garden and the Culinary Vegetable Institute—and into more conversations with customers.

At The Chef’s Garden, we’ve been talking about sustainability in agriculture for a really long time—and doing far more than just talking about it, putting our philosophy into daily practice. We’re encouraged to see how this subject is becoming a key part of the conversation about the future of food and, as the discussions continue, the language we use about food and sustainability naturally keeps evolving.

Practical experience and the knowledge to confidently start his own farm are the most valuable mementos Robert Lagrosas carried back to his native Philippines.

Inspiration Flows from Farm to Kitchen With fresh vegetables for toys, Chef Tony Dee and some fellow culinary playmates from Landry’s restaurant company spent three days recently having nothing but fun at The Chef’s Garden and the Culinary Vegetable Institute.