This week, sustainable farmer and New York Times bestselling author, Forrest Pritchard, visited Fort Wayne, Indiana, the home of Wood Farms that we chronicle here on Stewards of the Heartlands. Forrest was kind enough to sit down for an interview with us, and his audio responses to our questions are at the bottom of this post. Our thanks to Michelle Merritt for scheduling our time with him.

Mr. Pritchard was in Fort Wayne to be the speaker at the city’s first “Farm-to-Table Taste” event hosted by the Allen County Public Library. The event, which sold out in 15 hours of being announced, featured tastes from local farm-to-table restaurants Tolon and Junk Ditch, the Fort Wayne Farmers Market and its vendors, the 3 Rivers Natural Grocery Food Co-op, and the Little Turtle Branch Seed Library. Jeff and Zach of Hawkins Family Farm in North Manchester were also on hand.

Forrest Pritchard has written two books: “Gaining Ground” weaves a compelling story of how he took his struggling eight-generation farm in Virginia to a sustainable farming success while giving insights into his family’s life and the dedication it has taken from all involved. In “Growing Tomorrow” Forrest and photographer Molly Peterson offer an intriguing, behind-the-scenes look at 18 sustainable farmers scattered throughout the U.S.

The slideshow below provides a taste of the Taste. Scrolling over the images displays captions.