Swope Health announces a new edition of its podcast, One on One with Swope Health, featuring Mike B. Rollen, also known as Farmer Mike, CEO of Ophelia’s Blue Vine Farm.
Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.
Ophelia’s Blue Vine Farm, located at 2416 Vine St., in Kansas City’s historic jazz district, was founded in 2014 and named after Farmer Mike’s grandmother. The farm includes an urban greenhouse and specializes in fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits.
Rollen discusses his background and upbringing, including learning the basics of gardening from his grandmother. He worked as a videographer before committing to urban farming and educating the community about healthy food, real food from the earth.
He follows a mantra from Henry Bloch: “There are no shortcuts in life,” which he relates to the act of farming and growing foods the right way.
Rollen encourages his clients and the community learn about how foods are made, including understanding the handling and processing of foods. He reads from labels on cans that advise of lead warnings, bioengineered products, as well as added salt, sugar and preservatives. He teaches how to tell the difference between real food and fake food.
His website is filled with instructional videos showing him on the farm, talking about his products – watermelon, pumpkins, basil and herbs, tomatoes, flowers and more. With a gentle manner, he offers instruction on a wide variety of gardening tasks, from harvesting blackberries to growing grapes, always leading to the benefits of healthy natural foods.
His message goes to all the senses – he invites visitors to the Urban Farm to see how crops are grown, to experience the scent and taste of fresh and untreated foods, fed only by rain and sun and healthy soil. A visit always includes tasting the food, he says.
“The best stuff takes time,” he said. “The best stuff is fragile.”
Learn more about Farmer Mike, food processing, organic labels and more in this conversation. You can also visit his YouTube channel: Ophelia’s Blue Vine Farm.
You can also find this episode, as well as all podcast episodes of One-on-One with Swope Health, at Swope Health’s YouTube Channel.
