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Family Farming50 almanaCthe forest; and, with some help from volunteers at Slow Food Chicago, pro- ducing gallons of maple syrup tapped from their trees.Chicago chefs were immediately hooked by the flavors of some of the unique Ark of Taste products, for ex- ample, the nutty Tuscarora white corn that is a central piece of star-chef Rick Bayless’ menu, and the slow-growing Guinea hog that produces deeply fla- vored meat, now in high demand. Chef Chris Pandel from Chicago’s The Bristol uses the Guinea hog on his menu. He found a creative partner in Marty Travis. They challenge each other to experiment on the farm and in the kitchen. Having spent the first 15 years of his career thinking of food as, “something to manipulate and put on a plate,” he says this relationship, “changed my perspective. It is my job as a chef to help other people and al-Linkwww.slowfoodusa.org www.thespencefarm.com www.thestewardsoftheland.comlow family farmers, surrounded by Monsanto, to understand that they can see past all that bull**** and sustain themselves as human beings for the rest of their lives.”fruitful connectionSIt wasn’t long before Spence Farm couldn’t fill the growing demand from chefs. This is when Travis saw an op- portunity to make his grandmother’s dream a reality. He brought his neigh- bor’s farms together to form “The Stew- ards of the Land”, one of the now 240 food hubs across the country that con- nect small farms directly to consumers.