5. Pie, Part One OR Food, Part Two

Jeff Szymanski is an ex-military man gone veggie-burning blueberry farmer who lives near Olean, New York. I found him on the internet, and he offered to fill up my “veg” tank without asking anything in return—except that I meet him early in the morning, fourteen hours after I received his message. Surrendering an opportunity to try real buffalo wings, I drive south, spending the night in Alleghany State Park and meeting Jeff around 9 AM. While he fills up my tank, I learn about his time in the military, his decision to home school his children, and the remarkable ways in which his community has become his family. He directs me to a local farm stand, then to a local restaurant called Red’s and Trudy’s, whose owner doesn’t know where the meat he serves comes from. I continue to struggle with the meaning of my fourth rule (my vow to eat only local food) as I gobble a loose meat hamburger of mysterious origin under a placard that reads, “A man’s gotta believe in somethin’. I believe I’ll go fishin’.”

You can listen to 5. Pie, Part One OR Food, Part Two online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

5. Pie, Part One OR Food, Part Two is an episode from Off Track, The Audiobook.

This episode is 9:03 long.

This episode was published on Feb 20, 2015.

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