A "Sonoma Sustainable" sign hangs along a road in the Russian River Valley near Healdsburg, Calif. George Rose/Getty Images hide caption
Producers : The Salt Stories about the people and things that help put food on our tables. From small farmers to big manufacturers, Wall Street advertising strategies to one-of-a-kind restaurants and changing growing practices, you'll find it here.
The Salt
What's On Your PlateProducers
Shannan Troncoso, co-owner of Brookland's Finest Bar & Kitchen in Washington, D.C., has turned her customers into fans of Brussels sprouts. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption
From Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom
A mix of barley, peas and flax grows in a field at Casey Bailey's farm near Fort Benton, Mont. Bailey sells this crop to Montana dairy farmer Nate Brown, who has been feeding it to his goats. Casey Bailey hide caption
A worker at a bog owned by Massachusetts-based Decas Cranberry Products, Inc., removes vines from a batch of just-harvested berries. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption
An employee handles sides of pork on a conveyor at a Smithfield Foods Inc. pork processing facility in Milan, Mo. Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
USDA Offers Pork Companies A New Inspection Plan, Despite Opposition
Hector Osorno is the Kraft Heinz Ketchup Master, whose job it is to make sure around 70% of the ketchup sold in America tastes the way it should. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
Cattle graze in pasture formed by cleared rainforest land in Pará, Brazil. A new online tool makes it easier for food companies to detect this kind of land-clearing by their suppliers. Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
A Beyond Meat burger is displayed at a Carl's Jr. restaurant in San Francisco. The rise of meat alternatives made from plants, as well as meat grown from animal cells in labs, has sparked new laws on food labeling. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
What Gets To Be A 'Burger'? States Restrict Labels On Plant-Based Meat
Cocoa producers of the Yakasse-Attobrou Agricultural Cooperative gather cocoa pods in a certified Fair Trade-label cocoa plantation in Adzope, Ivory Coast. Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
From left: Gloria Amaya, José Amaya, Silvia Gómez, and Alicia Villanueva, the founder of Tamales Los Mayas. A graduate of La Cocina's program for food entrepreneurs, Villanueva now provides catering to scores of Bay Area companies each month, and her tamales are sold in Northern California Whole Foods stores. Eric Wolfinger hide caption
The Food Business Incubator That Helps Immigrant Women Pursue The American Dream
Bren Smith is a seaweed farmer and co-founder of GreenWave, a nonprofit that supports and trains ocean farmers. Courtesy of GreenWave hide caption
Charles Brain helps hand harvest grapes in a Shiraz vineyard in the Swartland wine region of South Africa. Lubanzi Wines, which was started by Brain and his partner, Walker Brown, earned its B Corp certification this year. Christopher Grava/Courtesy of Lubanzi Wines hide caption
A worker dumps a bucket of tomatoes into a trailer at DiMare Farms in Florida City, Fla., in 2013. The Trump administration is preparing to level a new tariff on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico in response to complaints from Florida growers. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Food Fight: Trump Administration Levels Tariffs On Mexican Tomatoes
A woman shopping in the 1970s picks up a bag of Snyder's pretzels. Today, Hanover remains a center of snack food manufacturing, even as the food industry changes around it. Courtesy of Snyder's of Hanover hide caption
Many backyard chicken keepers are thinking less about the business of raising chickens and more about collecting them — you just have to have them all — which comes with predictable consequences: too many eggs. Maarigard/Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley Collection hide caption
After starting a brewery in Seoul, Booth Brewery co-founders Heeyoon Kim (left) and Sunghoo Yang moved their operations to California to make Korean beer and ship it back. Courtesy of The Booth Brewing Co. hide caption
Bob Moore, founder of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, inspects grains at the company's facility in Milwaukie, Ore. The pioneering manufacturer of gluten-free products invests in whole grains as well as beans, seeds, nuts, dried fruits, spices and herbs. Natalie Behring/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Nationwide, there are too few farmers to populate market stalls and too few customers filling their canvas bags with fresh produce at each market. Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Members of the Oregon Solidarity project include (from left) Ed King and Justin King of King Estate Winery; Christine Clair and Joe Ibrahim of Willamette Valley Vineyards, and Brent Stone and Ray Nuclo, also of King Estate Winery. Carolyn Wells Kramer for NPR hide caption
Bret Adee, a third-generation beekeeper who owns one of the largest beekeeping companies in the U.S., lost half of his hives — about 50,000 — over the winter. He pops the lid on one of the hives to show off the colony inside. Greta Mart/KCBX hide caption
Massive Loss Of Thousands Of Hives Afflicts Orchard Growers And Beekeepers
Brent Henderson harvests soybeans on his farm near Weona, Ark., in 2017. That crop showed symptoms of dicamba exposure. Henderson switched to Xtend soybeans the following year, he says, as "insurance" against future damage. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
Apsara Bharati is watching over her field in Nepal, where she and her neighbors are using the system of rice intensification to plant seedlings. Danielle Preiss/NPR hide caption