Talking About Growing Teff in Idaho with Royd Carlson of Teffco

08/11/22 • 23 min

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The founding of Teff Co is a story that bridges rural Idaho to the horn of Africa. Teff Co was started by Idaho native, Wayne Carlson after a trip to Ethiopia. Wayne's sons, Royd and Gareth, are now the operators of Teffco and scaling the business to new levels. A staple grain Ethiopia and Eritrea, Teff it is naturally gluten free and a hardy crop. Teffco sells both Ivory and Dark Teff.

Teff is a fine grain that is about the size of a poppy seed. It is much smaller and glitter than traditional crops and milling it requires different techniques and he discusses the journey his family has taken in growing their milling operation.

Teff does well with dryer condition that traditional US crops.

Talked about smaller scale milling market opportunities and the benefit to add crop diversity. Also the benefits of crop diversity with speciality crops that are also regenerative by nature. Adding a specialty crops to a family farm using smaller mill options allow business growth.

To learn more about Teffco visit teffco.com. You can find recipes and more information about the grain.

Teff does well with dryer condition that traditional US crops.

To learn more about Teffco visit teffco.com. You can find recipes and more information about the grain.

Previous Episode

A Discussion About Food Science, Healthy Eating, and the “Humble Bean”. with Maggie Sadowsky

Maggie Sadowsky is an expert in transforming food categories. Joni and Maggie discuss the fact that not many people know about the Food scientist profession or what they do. Everything we eat is touched by a food scientist at some point in the process.

Plant-based foods discussion. Maggie was named the top plant-based food creator. Joni and Maggie discuss the health factor behind plant-based foods and the development of Maggie’s movement, Culinary Architects theculinaryarchitects.com.

Maggie highlights the importance of whole foods diet and getting your foods from as close to the source as possible. It is not what foods are free from that makes it healthy, but what it is full of.

Maggie talks about her efforts in working with local farmers to create organic canned beans. While beans are not as popular of a food group in America as they are in other countries, Maggie talks about the long-term health benefits. Joni and Maggie discuss the impact of chemically intensive, conventional growing on the overall farming system and how organic and regenerative farming can counterbalance the effects.

Maggie shares her approach with 8-Track Foods and what thoughts go into the canned bean products they create. One of her key ideas was on cutting down on food waste by using the pantry as the go-to place for meal preparation. Joni and Maggie talked about how consumers could take baby steps towards eating healthy and helping the planet by simply replacing just half of their meat with beans. No fake stuff, no lab modification, just simple, delicious beans.

Learn more about 8-Track Foods by visiting 8trackfoods.com. You can reach Maggie on LinkedIN at Maggiesadowsky.

Next Episode

A Forward Look on Agriculture from an Organic Farmers Perspective-a discussion with Tim Cornie

Tim shares his history in farming, his perspective on food health, and his ideas on what the future of farming will look like.

Joni and Tim explore the idea that our food growing methods are making people sick and the loss of nutrients in our food supply decreasing long-term health outlook.

To learn more about Tim’s 1000 Springs Mill operation, please visit 1000springsmill.com.