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ADM’s Faces of Food Heads South for Season 4

Faces of Food moves down to the southeastern United States for the fourth season of the award-winning video series produced by ADM.
By ADM Grain Marketing
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Filmed in late June under the hot summer sun, Faces of Food Season 4 features three growers from Georgia, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle who raise everything from livestock to peanuts to sweet corn.

“We’ve had a strong Midwest focus in previous seasons and wanted Season 4 to bring viewers to another part of the country with strong agriculture traditions,” says ADM Producer Marketing Manager Emily Lacina.

Themed “Diverse Crops, Diverse Perspectives”, Faces of Food Season 4 features generational growers – including one who’s also an ADM Climate-Smart Manager – each of whom has dedicated their life to agriculture.

Episode 1 tells the story of Howard Hodge, Jr, who’s been working on his farm in northern Florida since he was six years old. Howard combined full-time farming with a full-time job, adopting techniques that created multiple income streams. While he’s downsized his operation as he’s gotten older, he calls farming “an addition” and hopes to continue for years to come.

Faces of Food Season 4 travels next to the south Georgia farm of Donald Chase, who raises peanuts and sweet corn. Donald reflects on the importance of closing the knowledge gap between growers and consumers at a time when direct interactions between the two are rare.

Episode 3 features Emmanuel Bankston, who runs a cattle operation in Alabama while also serving as the Regional Climate-Smart Manager for ADM Golden Peanut. He explains why visiting other growers’ operations is so rewarding and why he loves that his life revolves around agriculture.

Season 4 concludes with a look at the special relationship that has evolved over the years between ADM Golden Peanut and local growers. Episode 4 combines the perspectives of growers featured in previous episodes with ADM Golden Peanut representatives Mark Milliron and Steve Welch who explain the importance of building trust with the growers they serve and their commitment to supporting them as true partners – and friends.

“We are so fortunate to have producers and local representatives willing to share such diverse and revealing stories,” says Lacina.

“A lifetime of farming generates an incredible wealth of knowledge. We hope that our Faces of Food films can help spread some of that knowledge to new audiences and new communities and help raise awareness for the important work producers carry out around the country each day.”

Following a sneak preview event at Farm Progress 2024, the latest season of Faces of Food will soon be available online.

Launched in 2022, Faces of Food is an ongoing series of authentic stories featuring the voices of producers from across the country to create a better understanding and appreciation of life on the farm. Each episode includes a video published on the ADMadvantage YouTube channel as well as a feature article on ADMadvantage.com that provides additional details about each operation and the families that run them.