Arkansas Soybean Farmers Join the Education Business
The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board launches an initiative to teach Arkansans how soybean farmers feed the world
Little Rock, Ark., JULY 10, 2015 – The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board (ASPB) will launch a program to promote soy foods to families across the state. The Kitchen|Fields Table Tour will kick off this month and includes four restaurants in the Northwest, Northeast and Central parts of the state. Each chef will develop a dish to be featured on their menus for three months. The dish will be a soy food, like edamame, or a food that has consumed soy food made of soybean meal, like chicken, pork or beef. The goal of the program is to educate Arkansans about the variety of ways they can consume soybeans and support their farmer neighbors.
“We are excited to partner with restaurants across the state for this program,” ASPB Chairman West Higginbothom said. “This is an opportunity for Arkansans to learn about soybeans grown by family farmers in our state and the many soy foods and soy products available to consumers. Many Arkansans are already eating soy products, but may not realize it. That is what makes this program so important.”
The program will launch at South on Main in Little Rock with a farm-to-table dinner and conversations about how Arkansas soybeans are used in the food industry. South on Main will also be the first feature restaurant and will serve a Striped Bass with soybeans, corn mash & chow chow. That dish will be available through the end of September. When diners visit the restaurant and order the dish, they’ll receive a card that tells them how soybeans are included.
The partner restaurants for the Kitchen|Fields Table Tour include:
- South On Main, Little Rock
- J-Town’s Grill, Jonesboro
- The Hive, Bentonville
- The Southern Gourmasian, Little Rock
The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board consists of soybean producers appointed by the Governor and nominated by various producer organizations within Arkansas. Although board members contribute many hours of their time to administering the program, they serve without pay.