KAYTE YOUNG: From WFIU in Bloomington Indiana, I'm Kayte Young and this is Earth Eats.
TANEISHA HENLINE: There's no more watching your food being cooked, there's no more hanging out with a Jamaican. It's jus,t "Hi! How it goin'? Everything good. See you next time." KAYTE YOUNG: This week on Earth Eats in celebration of our spring membership drive we revisit our first full hour show, a conversation with Tanisha Henline chef and owner of Top Shotta Jerk Chicken in Bloomington about running a food truck during a pandemic and how cooking traditional foods connects her with her ancestors. We have a story from Harvest Public Media about debt relief for black farmers and one about plant-based meat. And Josephine McRobbie brings us one of the stories and her series with Joe O'Connell on the Oregon fishing industry. All that in the next hour here on Earth Eats, so stay with us.
RENEE REED: Earth Eats is produced from the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana. We wish to acknowledge and honor the indigenous communities native to this region, and recognize that Indiana University Bloomington is built on indigenous homelands and resources.  We recognize the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee people as past, present, and future caretakers of this land.

KAYTE YOUNG: Workers in Oregon's commercial fishing industry share a close-knit culture. Now they're trying to imagine how regional tourism fits into that community. This story from producer Josephine McRobbie and public folklorist Joe O'Connell was produced based on original field research for the Oregon Folklife Network.
SARA SKAMSER: The men were after me something awful after I won the arm-wrestling championship.

(Guitar chords)

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Swapping stories about work and play is an Oregon fishing industry tradition. 

SARA SKAMSER: By then the bar is packed, it was after a halibut opener. There's 300 people in there.  

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Sara Skamser is a netmaker in Newport. 

SARA SKAMSER: I went and signed up, weighed in at the unlimited weight divisions, sat back down. My name got called and there was Shirley, the arm wrestling champion of four years. And she just grabs ahold of me, and is turning colors and grunting, and I’m holding steady. And then I realized I had not tried yet. And I slammed her right down.

(Cheering and clapping)

ANNOUNCER: Thank you very much. 

SECOND ANNOUNCER: Whoa did you hear that? 

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Some poets and musicians near the coast have elevated commercial fishing lore to an artform. The string band Brownsmead Flats are performing at winery in the town of Nehalem. 

BROWNSMEAD FLATS: (Singing) It isn't very far to Astoria's Bar, but a very long journey it can be. It can start at the mountains...

NED HEAVENRICH: I sort of like refer to us as crabgrass. Sort of blue grassy sound, but with maritime flavor. 

BROWNSMEAD FLATS: (Singing)...when they rode all night to fish in the morning and lives in...

NED HEAVENRICH: My name is Ned Heavenrich and I live in Brownsmead. 

DAN SUTHERLAND: My name is Dan Sutherland and I also live in Brownsmead. 

NED HEAVENRICH: Brownsmead Oregon. There's Ray Raihala who plays banjo and then John Fenton our base player. Larry Moore mandolin player. 

Larry Moore do you want to join in on this? 

LARRY MOORE: I could join in. 

NED HEAVENRICH: Yeah, yeah. 

BROWNSMEAD FLATS: It is worth more than gold when we fill our...

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: When they sing about Astoria's Bar they were not talking about a pub but rather the intimidating waters where the Columbia River meets the Pacific ocean. 

MARY GARVEY: (Chatting indistinctly in the background)

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: The song was written by somebody just across the river. 

MARY GARVEY: Mary Garvey. I live in Long Beach Washington now, I've lived here about 18 years. I don't think of myself as a performer. I guess I've written enough songs I could say I'm a songwriter. 

Destination, I could do the destination. That's Alaska, I was singing at FisherPoets and it turns out that...

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: For both Mary Garvy and Brownsmead flats, singing about the region is essential. 

MARY GARVEY: I think it's very important to... if you can, write about specific people, specific events, communities. 

GARY SUTHERLAND: We like to do a lot of songs about living on the coast or near the coast. 

MARY GARVEY: And my stuff sort of does that by accident. I don't set out to do it. 

NED HEAVENRICH: You know it's just what this area is, you know. You write about where you live. 

MARY GARVEY: So I think the song... like I said, there's something you could sort of tap into. 

NED HEAVENRICH: You know maybe if you live in Wisconsin you'd write about cows and milk, I don't know, and cheese. And here you write about fish and water and trees, and the rain. 

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Both artists are mainstays at the FisherPoets Gathering, an annual event held by and for insiders. Pretty much everyone onstage at the gathering is or has been a commercial fisher. 

LARRY MOORE: In Astoria the FisherPoets Gathering would ask for some tune to be maybe orientated to be more maritime, or did you have something to do with the fishing industry. And of course Ray and Ned have been a fisherman. 

RAY SUTHERLAND: Yeah

GARY SUTHERLAND: Ray probably was kind of the first person to get into that. His father was a gillnet fisherman on the Columbia river for many years and he grew up in that tradition. And so he fished with his dad and then he was a fish buyer. You know he had a lot of stories to tell about...

MARY GARVEY: Kate Gabel did a really good job singing this on a CD. 

(Sings) Hold on, and hold on, and frightfully concerned. 

Hold on, hold on, there's news that we have learned. 

Hold on, hold on, there's a boat that's overturned. 

The coastguard is...

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Mary Garvey never made her living on the water but her songs help commemorate events in the community. 

MARY GARVEY: "Hold on" - it's a true story, it was right after Christmas and somebody started to go down.  He had in his pocket a new cellphone that someone had given him. He in the water, all of the sudden remembers his phone. He gets the phone out and he gets ahold of... I guess the coast guard or I guess somebody, but they didn't know where he was. 

And he gave a few descriptors and I guess the community somehow said, "Well he must be near here."

They went circling around looking for him and on this very last wave, he was underwater totally. His very last wave I've heard. He waved to them, and they saw him. It was getting I think it was getting dark. 

This one happens so close to FisherPoets. Sometimes if there's a time urgency I might cause I knew it should be sung at FisherPoets cause they actually, some of them... I don't know if they knew the people but they knew the boat, and they knew the place. 

(Finishes singing) Amazing rescue, amazing. 

(Sound of Brownsmead Flats tuning up)

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Some of the songs by Brownsmead Flats address transitions taking place on the coast. 

BROWNSMEAD FLATS: (In a singsong voice) This is a song we wrote for the tourists... 

NED HEAVENRICH: It’s changed since we've been here from an industrial economy to a tourist economy, which has benefited us a lot. More venues and restaurants and stuff like that have sprung up. And they are more festivals. 

LARRY MOORE: You know it’s a little bit of an irony, but you’ve replaced one kind of industry with another, and it's important how it's done (laughs). You know so... timber, fishing, that is what, I think, people consider the source of a place. Like can you have both? It would be nice to have both. Sustainable everything!

LAUREN MCROBBIE: Increasingly fishers and other workers share what they do with curious visitors. 

SARA SKAMSER: I see tourists just lining the docks and they all have this just far away look in their eyes like, "I could do it, I could fish. I could go out there." 

You know they just all are, it's just an enamor, it's something I think within all of us because of the fact that we're made of seawater. 

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: Sara Skamser has made her fishing net workshop a go-to spot for educational events and tuna barbeques.

SARA SKAMSER: We do a lot of workshops with laypeople and marine biologist students. And the guys working on the nets just fascinates people. And then we'll have excluders out on the parking lot to show them the different types and jus to inform them because the fisherman are busy, they never tell their own stories. So we're kind of the in between. 

JOSEPHINE MCROBBIE: COVID-19 precautions mean that the social life around commercial fishing is on hold. Brownsmead Flats, their last gig was at the FisherPoets Gathering back in February. But when they take the stage again they'll be back to doing what they do best, bridging the worlds of work and play in coastal Oregon. 

(Brownsmead sings)

KAYTE YOUNG: This story by producer Josephine McRobbie and public folklorist Joe O'Connell features the voices of Oregon bass commercial fishers and seafood entrepreneurs. O'Connell conducted the original research in August 2019 for the Oregon Folklife Network with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
(Eerie music)
More shoppers are buying Impossible Burgers, Beyond Meat and other meat alternatives made from plants. Now smaller businesses are jumping on the trend too, but it's Harvest Public Media's Seth Bodine reports while the industry is gaining traction, public perception is one of the biggest obstacles to more growth.
SETH BODINE: It's no secret that Oklahoma is beef country, even the Oklahoma legislature recently passed a measure encouraging citizens to eat more meat.
OREGON LEGISLATOR: Let's enjoy the summer with eating lots of meat.
OREGON SPEAKER: (Chuckles) Remember you heard an explanation.
OREGON LEGISLATOR: Grill it all on. Put everything on the grill Mr. Speaker.
SETH BODINE: The state used millions of dollars in covid relief to boost local meat processors. despite this official support for beef, pork and meats some alternatives are making headway. Meet Gwyneth Yvonne and Randon Moore.
RANDON MOORE: Gwyn and I like to say we're changing cattle country one vegan meal at a time.
SETH BODINE: Yvonne and Moore started a vegan food business called Beetbox spelled like the red root vegetable, while at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

GWYNETH YVONNE: I think that's what surprises people the most, is our chicken, because people don't think it's vegan at first until we try to convince them, like, "Trust us, it's vegan!"
SETH BODINE: They had students lined up outside their apartment.
GWYNETH YVONNE: That's when we knew we had something special and we knew we had to take it to the next level and open a food truck together.

SETH BODINE: Nationally products like chickenless patties and beefless burgers have been slowly growing. Jayson Lusk is a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University.
JAYSON LUSK: You can see from grocery store sales data, so scanner data, that sales of plant-based alternatives are increasing.
SETH BODINE: Lusk says sales of refrigerated meat substitute are up more than 100% in May 2020 compared to 2019. That big jump is because the market is still small he says but beef is still a big winner. Shoppers chose beef about three times as often as all of meat alternative. Part of that is likely the price. Right now mock meats are more expensive to make, but Lusk says consumer preferences are the biggest barrier.
JAYSON LUSK: Consumers' perceptions of traditional beef are very positive and generally more positive than the plant-based alternatives in terms of things like taste.
MIKE LEAL: I love a great steak. Sirloin is just wonderful but I'm a little bit more in the traditional side. So when you talk about plant-based my first impression would be... how good will it be for something if you compare it to a good steak.
SETH BODINE: That's Mike Leal. He and his wife Christie stop by the Beetbox truck outside a brewery in Oklahoma City. When they tasted the chickenless nachos from Beatbox, Christie says they were surprised.
CHRISTIE LEAL: If I understand correctly this is jackfruit? It's actually pretty good. The texture is very similar, the flavor is similar. So maybe it is getting somewhere now.
SETH BODINE: The owners say a majority of Beetbox's customers aren't vegan. In fact, that's one of the main markets of these meat alternatives. Glynn Tonsor is a professor at Kansas State University.
GLYNN TONSOR: Someone who is still open to consuming meat products so beef, pork, chicken, and the like, but maybe not with every meal.
SETH BODINE: Scott Blubaugh the president are the Oklahoma Farmers Union says the plant-based meat industry could become a competitor for beef and pork.
SCOTT BLUBAUGH: If you look at say almond milk, or some of the other substitutes that really aren't milk at all, they really are competing against our dairy farmers.
SETH BODINE: Which is why he supports laws in Oklahoma and other states that require meat alternatives to be clearly labeled as plant-based. Still entrepreneurs like Moore and Yvonne are hopeful more people will start to open up to these alternatives. They say they're talking with big fast food restaurants about their chickenless patties. Moore says they're dreaming big.
RANDON MOORE: A lot of people ask us how big do you want, we usually say, "Have you heard of Amazon?" So, that's our goal.

SETH BODINE: While experts expect companies like Beetbox to grow, they don't think most people will be replacing their hamburgers or steak with mock meat anytime soon. Seth Bodine, Harvest Public Media.
KAYTE YOUNG: Our partners at Harvest Public Media bring you news and stories on food and farming in the Heartland. Find more at HarvestPublicMedia.org.
(Music)

(Energetic music)

Maybe it was a friend on Facebook, bragging on their tasty takeout meal on a Friday night, perhaps it was the aroma spicy meats on a grill, the smoke from a barbeque wafting through the air as you rode your bike on 4th street downtown one night around dinner time. You caught a flash of a bright red and green food truck at the corner of your eye, but kept peddling home. Maybe you've heard of Top Shotta Jerk Chicken, maybe you've even tried their food. Either way, now you have the chance to hear from the owner of this unique food truck on the streets of Bloomington Indiana. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: My name is Tanisha Henline. I am the owner of Top Shotta Jerk Chicken, an authentic Jamaican food truck here in Bloomington Indiana. 

KAYTE YOUNG: I met up with Tanisha in a city park on 3rd street one morning to talk about her food and the story behind the business. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: On the food truck I make traditional Jamaican rice and peas, which in Jamaica we call peas and beans, cause the beans peas. But here it's peas and green, that's what people think rice and peas is, but it's actually kidney beans with white rice. And traditionally we make that on Sundays, it's really fun so I make that everyday. 

I also make jerk chicken tacos. In Jamaica I've never had a taco but when I came here I realized that everyone loved tacos from a food truck, so I do that. And then I do the traditionally jerk chicken. In Jamaica it's chopped up but I leave it on the bone. Traditionally it's spicy, but I make my jerk sauce from scratch, the marinade from scratch, and it's on this side. It's not spicy at all just a hint of flavor. 

Every eat you eat it, you love the food, it's very delicious. I also do my own coleslaw that I call the shotta slaw. I also have slices of potato bread. And sometimes I do specials of ox tail, curry boat, brown stew chicken, curry chicken and I post that on my Facebook page anytime I have those. 

KAYTE YOUNG: I asked Tanisha why she loved the meat on the bone, even though it's not traditional. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: You know actually it's cause that's what Americans prefer, and I'm trying to reach out to Americans - that's the target audience, and I'm trying to reach out. So I leave it on the bone but if you want it chopped I will gladly chop it for you. If you want that experience of it being chopped up and me putting on your sauce and it being spicy from the get-go, I am more than happy to do that. 

So it would be on the grill whole, I'll season it in spaced pieces then after it's done, I'll chop it up with a cleaver, put it in a file paper, put on ketchups, the sauce is on there, and then hand it to you. 

So I get the chicken fresh and I marinade it with the sauces and the spices that I make from scratch that's traditional to my homeland. And I marinade it and then cook it on the grill. It's very healthy as well. The thing about jerk is that we have a dry rub that's made of our traditional spices. And usually you do that at home, if it's just the family, you don't want to do it too fancy, you use your dry rub. Then you have a wet rub, and if that's for commercial use - that you're trying to do something of it more fancy, you use your wet rub on there. 

But at Top Shotta I support the dry rub and the wet rub and you have to put coals in the chicken, you have to get the seasoning on the meat, the meat, and that is also a process of the jerk chicken. That's how my ancestors actually did it. 

It's all fresh ingredients. I have onions, garlic, cause you have to use peppers and stuff like that cause that's healthy too. And then I have dry rubs which is I use over 30 mixes of dry rubs into one to make that into my jerk. And then I have another set of the wet rub which is the onions and scallions, the tomatoes, and then I have allspice. A Jamaican is no Jamaican food without allspice. And the you add that to your rub with a whole lot of other stuff. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Vegetarians don't worry. Top Shotta has something for you. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: Sometimes I have customers who don't eat meat. The rice and peas is for vegetarians, there's no broth in there, I make the water taste delicious and put the rice in there with the peas and everything. There's nothing that a vegetarian would be, you know like, "Oh no I don't want that." 

Then the tacos, I don't have to put the chicken in there. Cause the tacos come with shredded cabbage, a slice of pear, and in Jamaica, an avocado we call that a pear, but we know that a pear, here is an American pear. 

So it's a slice of avocado, some chicken usually but then I do have to put the chicken in, some cabbage, I add tomatoes, onions, scallions and sweet peppers, and also the sauce. And the sauce has nothing that's not friendly to vegetarian in it. 

And I also have a burrito that I could just not put any meat in, that has coleslaw, has tomatoes, onion, cheese, sour cream, the rice and peas, and that's all in a wrap. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Tamisha shared her understanding of the origins of the jerk tradition in Jamaica. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: In the 1650's, they were named Maroons, those are my ancestors, they're called the Maroons. They were the first escaped slaves on Jamaica. They were on the plantations when the Spaniards captured them and then the British took over in 1655. 

And on that plantation they were like, "Hold on, we don't want to do this anymore. We're not gonna be slaves, enough is enough, and we're gonna fight for our freedom." 

So they escaped, they went into the mountains - the other word for a Maroon is a mountaineer. They went up in the mountains and they were being followed, so they had to come up with a way - how are we gonna eat, without being captured? 

So they decided we can make the herbs of the earth, all the seasoning the dry rubs, we're gonna mix that into our spice, we're gonna kill the boar, the pig - that's the first thing that was jerked in Jamaica. We're gonna kill the boar we're gonna dig a hole in the ground, and they would put pimento wood - that's also a native of Jamaica, and allspice into the ground, season the meat, cover it with more pimento wood, then put dry leaves on top, and that would smother the smoke. So that's also smoking it, jerking it underneath, and the British soldiers can't tell that there's actually a fire going on. So that's where it actually came from. At first...

KAYTE YOUNG: And what about the word 'jerk'?

TANEISHA HENLINE: I can remember in history class that Gitanos - and those were the first settlers for Christopher Columbus, they were the first ones there, the Tainos and the Arawaks. You know what they used to do, they would have the same spice but they would dry the meat. So it's kinda like the jerky. But then when the Maroons got ahold of the recipe they were like, "We don't like this part. We want a bit more juicier, a bit more flavorful, a bit more hearty. That if we eat piece of meat, we actually can hold us within these wartimes." So they added a bit more flavor and other seasonings that created the wet rub and the dry rub for the jerk. 

It's grilled and it's smoked at the same time. And it's not just, it's not like barbeque, it's a whole process and every time I do it, it's such pride. 

My husband, he like. I actually met him, the way that I got to come here in Jamaica, I had to be like, I have to say this because I wouldn't be here, with this food truck, had I not met him. 

So I was in Jamaica six years ago, I lived there. And I met him on vacation. And he flirted with me the entire time but I just like, "I'm not too sure." 

KAYTE YOUNG: They stayed connected after he returned to Bloomington. Eli invited her to visit, they fell in love, married, and Taneisha moved to Bloomington. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: But while I love being here, the food was not the same and it was a big culture shock for me, and I was very depressed. So in order to stay here and still be happy I had to find a way to cook. And if I'm cooking all the time, and I'm enjoying this good food, I feel like I should share it. I would be selfish for keeping onto this good food all for myself. 

KAYTE YOUNG: While Taneisha did not cook professionally in Jamaica she certainly had experience in the kitchen. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: I grew up extremely poor. I didn't have plumbing, I used candles for studying for my schoolwork, so I didn't have the luxury of going out to eat. You had to buy the chicken back, the chicken neck, the worst part of the chicken. I had to make that into something that's delicious that you can eat. So even in Jamaica I always had to cook, because if I don't cook, I don't eat. 

And so I've always had a strong connection to food, but coming here it got even stronger because I couldn't get the things that I really wanted. But now that I have the food truck and I'm cooking what I love, and things that I couldn't even afford in Jamaica, like ox tail - I dreamt of eating ox tail. I remember my friend, I asked her for some of her gravy, just to see what it tasted like. And now being able to buy that and cook that and share it to others, it makes me so happy. And I just have to thank the community for just accepting me for who I am and for what I'm doing. 

(Transition Music) 

TANEISHA HENLINE: I've been in business now would be my third full year. I actually started two and a half years ago when it was in the winter and it was so cold! I could manage the cool I still can. But I was like, oh well even though it's cold out there when I start, as soon as I was up and running and I got certified by the city I just wanted to get out there to start sharing my culture. So this year would actually be in winter my third full year. 

Well as a food truck, any restaurant you have to have a commissary, and that's one where commissary will shout out to One World Commissary. We have a commissary there, I keep my dry foods there. On the truck I try to do as much as I can before the day of. I have an hour that I start my prepping because we prep everyday fresh, no frozen food. So that's how I do it. 

We are closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, and then Wednesdays I do lunch on the westside at Dirtsportz. And then Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday I am on 3rd and College across from Atlas. And I have permission to be there at 5:00. So I get there at 5:00, I do my prepping and then I can serve by 6:00. And then that's weather permitting because of the charcoal grill, I have a pull behind the food truck. So if it's raining I can't really be out there in the rain, because the grill wants... it gets wet and the charcoal, it's not possible. So I post every morning if I'll be out that day. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Taneisha posts her location and any specials of the day on Top Shotta's Facebook page and on Instagram. Regulars know to check there first. I'm Kayte Young, this is Earth Eats and we're speaking with Taneisha Henline of Top Shotta Jerk Chicken in Bloomington Indiana. After a short break we'll hear how Taneisha adapted to the COVID-19 restrictions and what it means to her to share food in the community. Stay with us. 

(Trendy music)
RENEE REED: Stay connected, subscribe to the Earth Eats Digest. It's a weekly note with previews, food stories, and recipes directly in your inbox. Go to EarthEats.org to signup.

(Transition Music)

KAYTE YOUNG: Welcome back, you're listening to Earth Eats. I'm Kayte Young. We're talking with Taneisha Hemline. She's the owner and chef at Top Shotta Jerk Chicken and Cuisine. It's a food truck in Bloomington Indiana. With everything that the restaurant industry has been through since widespread shut down orders started in March of this year, I asked Taneisha what adjustments she has had to make to comply with the COVID-19 restrictions. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: In the past I loved the fact that my customers could come to the truck, talk me with me while their chicken is being grilled right there, they could see their chicken. I would sometimes ask them which pieces they would like, you choose your piece of meat. You see it come off, fresh off the grill. And I'm there fixing your food, we talk a little more, then you leave. Some people like to eat there, and tell me how good the food is, which I love. 

But now with the COVID and the pandemic, I have to encourage preordering. So once I pause I get calls for orders, and then I get there, I start doing my prep, then I start cooking. And they would just have to pickup their food and leave. There's no more watching your food being cooked, there's no hanging out with a Jamaican. (laughs) It's just "How, how goin? Everything good. See you next time." 

Which is still nice, but I miss people being able to watch their chicken on the grill. Things have changed drastically. No... I mean before I used to give out hand sanitizer, wipes, I used to do that before cause I like doing that, that's a good thing for a restaurant to do. But then now I have to ensure that. Cause my husband helps me out on the truck, he drives it for me and he helps move the charcoal grill, so we have to give hand sanitizer to everyone once they touch their money. We gotta make sure we're wiping all the surfaces, which I used to do before but now it's even more strenuous, things that you have to do to ensure that you are in accordance with the law, which is what you have to do right now. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Taneisha prefers that customers call first to preorder. I asked if walkup ordering is possible, say if you were walking by, caught a whiff of the sizzling seasoned meats from the grill. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: Yes, sometimes I can't really tell if I'll have a busy day or not. Sometimes it's busy, sometimes it's not. Somedays you can walkup and right away I can serve you. Other days I do have the chicken but I can't serve you yet because I have so many preorders. So you can always walkup to the truck and order but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to serve you immediately. 

KAYTE YOUNG: I wondered if jerk chicken is something that you would normally find served as street food in Jamaica. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: This is a popular, one of the most popular street foods in Jamaica. Anywhere on the street there's a jerk man, and usually they're there in the evenings, not in the mornings. They're usually there for lunch, for dinner and then late night for when the parties are going on, 2-3 o'clock in the morning. You're leaving a party, he's right out there with his soup and his jerk. You're so hungry, it smells so good, you just have to get some food. It's a whole tradition for us. 

The jerk chicken man when you go to the club or you're on the street, he's just there with his little pan smelling up whole place with this aroma of food. You go there, you buy food, you talk to him. It's a whole social business and that's what Negril - where I'm from in Jamaica, is actually known for. Or beaches, the jerk chicken man just there on the street, but I wanted to bring that but I couldn't bring it here cause of the laws. So I had to get the entire food truck. I couldn't just have the pan how it is back home. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Here on Earth Eats we interviewed entrepreneurs in the food world and I am always curious to hear what it is that drives them to start their own business. I personally find the idea terrifying. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: It's nerve wracking. You know back home in Jamaica because things was rough, I always had to work and pay bills and I was like, "Well I would love to be something more one day, but I don't see it materializing yet. So I'm just going to work towards whatever may come." 

KAYTE YOUNG: After moving to Bloomington, Taneisha worked a couple of desk jobs but she wasn't happy. She was missing her culture, she was missing her food. She started to find the ingredients to make her favorite dishes at home and she began to wonder if she could start cooking for others. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: So I was like well, if I can get the food that I like from home and I can cook it, and I've not been happy with working relationships that I've put myself in here then I can do this. And I spoke to my husband about it and he's like, "Well I've been eating your food for a while and yes it's good and I wouldn't just say that cause you're my wife. It's really good. So I will back you 100%."

And just having his support, knowing that he believes that I can do it, just made me want to do it even more. 

When I tried to get the food here, even when I went out of state, I knew I could do better. And I'm not trying to knock anyone's business, big (shout)out to all Jamaicans who are trying to make something big out there, but I've tried it and I was like, "I can do better." You know? "And Bloomington needs this." Bloomington has a lot of different type of people, a lot ethnicity here, but I says like, "There's no Jamaican. There's different stuff that I've tried but it's not Jamaican."

And I was like, "You know what? I can do it. And I feel like the community would embrace that too." And they have, which I am grateful for. 

KAYTE YOUNG: I asked if it was just her and Eli running the business or did she have other employees? 

TANEISHA HENLINE: Yes, it's just the two of us. I feel like I can't control my product once somebody else is in charge, and I like being able (to say) it's from me, this is from my heart, and it's to you, straight from me. And I feel like if I get anybody else they won't care as much as I do. Cause this is my culture, this is the way I was grown, this is how I was raised. 

KAYTE YOUNG: So how has business been? 

TANEISHA HENLINE: You know, to be honest I would say that I... slow and steady win the race. People are slowly hearing about me and the good thing about me is once you've had the food once... I have had so many people once, I'm seein' them the next day, and the next day. And a return face is always good, but now that more people hearing about me, it's slowly more now picking up. Yeah because back then nobody knew that I was even out. Nobody knew so I'm slow, I feel like this is the first year that more of the Bloomington community even know that there's a Jamaican food truck in town. 

KAYTE YOUNG: I asked Taneisha to reflect on what sharing food means to her. 

TANEISHA HENLINE: For me food, first you eat with your eyes, so for me when I'm plating my food, I feel a sense of pride, because my ancestors - the Maroons, what they did, they had to hide and do it. And because of them I am free today to share it across the world. As a Jamaican being in Indiana, to me it's a huge deal. 

We as Jamaicans we're small but we are everywhere, sharing our culture, making people happy. When I have a customer who I think is 8 years old, and he saves his allowance that he gets on a weekly basis to come to the food truck and buy his family food. And he waves his $20 and I run out there and I hug him and (I say) "I'm so happy that you loved the food."

And he says "The food is amazing" 

I've had kids, babies, told me that the food is so good, it makes so happy. It makes me extremely happy. Because I do it with a sense of pride and if I wouldn't eat it, then I'm not serving it. And I cook it to the best of my ability that if my ancestors are anywhere watching me, they're gonna say, "Well done my child, you're doing the right thing." 

And I have to have a sense of pride anytime when I do this. Every time I go on that truck, she's, her name is Nanny of the Maroons. The name of the truck is actually one of our heroines, the Nanny of the Maroon. She lead the Morant Bay rebellion, she lead a lot of the wars that happened between the British. But eventually they had to sign a treaty with us, because we were not gonna remain slaves anymore. And every time I cook a piece of chicken, I remember that if it weren't for them being brave enough to stand up for years and shedding their blood, I can't do this. I wouldn't be able to be here.

And I'm just happy that the community accepts me, and they have been so loving towards me, everybody has been so nice. And I couldn't wish it any better, to be in a community that's so diverse and everybody's so loving. I haven't had a bad experience being in Bloomington. I've had great encounters with people, everybody loves me. You know it's a Jamaican food truck, the food is great. 

KAYTE YOUNG: I couldn't let Taneisha go without asking her about the name of her business; Top Shotta.

TANEISHA HENLINE: So if you're top shotta you're a hustler, you're a go getter, nobody messes with you, you're all about the Benjamins. You're just trying to hustle and get your slice of the cake. You're a top shotta. Yup. And I'm the best at what I do, and I'm a top shotta at jerking chicken (laughs). You're a boss. You're a boss at what you do, and people know. They respect you for that. 

KAYTE YOUNG: And a boss she is. That was Taneisha Hemline, owner and chef of Top Shotta Jerk Chicken and Cuisine, a food truck found on the streets of Bloomington Indiana. Check the Earth Eats website for details on Top Shotta's menu and location, EarthEats.org. 

(Transition music)
At our house we have an eclectic collection of mugs. And lately I've noticed that my relationship with them is rather involved. We have ones that were handcrafted by my friend Libby. One from the dentist office in Terra Haute where my son had dental work done at age 1.5. There's the kitten mug with a picture on the front and a small circle of the kitten image on the inside so you never lose sight of the kitten even when taking a drink. There's the mug from Wanza construction from way back in the days when I worked in the building trades - that's the one I pick up when I've got a serious workday ahead and I need to buckle down and power through. 

The kitten one is for days when I need to be nice to myself. The one from a local law office has a nice weight to it, it feels good in my hand and it's a great choice for day-to-day getting stuff done. The handcrafted ones are luxurious and comforting at once. My partner often uses the dentist one since we don't care if it gets tea stains. There's one with an elegant Sohio logo on it. It's a narrow mug that fits perfectly in the car cupholder. But I hesitate to take it out of the house for fear of breaking it. It is a favorite. The plain dark blue one can travel, it's replaceable. Same with the one from the Hub, I have a second one stashed away. 

But the best mug in the world is one that my former coworkers had custom made for me that says, "I have lots of ideas". It makes me feel seen and known and loved. I miss that one. It's been hanging out at the office without me for nine months. Maybe I should go by and pick it up. 

Anyway, the point is mugs can be special. We can get attached to ordinary objects. If you're looking for a new mug to enter your life, maybe you could request one from WFIU as a thank you gift when you make your donation. Public radio always has good mugs. Your WFIU mugs could be the one you use when you're feeling generous, community minded, proud of yourself, or well-informed. Here at WFIU we're in the midst of our Spring Fund Drive. You can pledge your support now by going to WFIU.org/donate. And thank you. 
(Piano music)
(Music)

Black Farmers have faced Decades of discrimination at the hands of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has denied them loans and other aide. A discrimination lawsuit promised to vital debt relief but many didn't get it. Now despite some partisan resistance, black farmers and other disadvantaged groups are getting billions in debt relief and help. Harvest Public Media's Seth Bodine reports.
SETH BODINE: The newest stimulus bill includes $4 billion dollars in debt relief and additional billion for assistance that black farmers have been waiting on for decades, but it didn't come easy; 49 Senators voted to strip or reduce the aid. Republican senator Lindsey Graham was at the forefront of that effort.
LINDSEY GRAHAM: That's reparations, what does that got to do with COVID?
SETH BODINE: But for John Boyd Jr who has the National black Farmers Association it makes perfect sense. He says black farmers are facing extinction and the pandemic is made the situation worse.
JOHN BOYD: When animals are facing extinction, congress puts laws in place until their numbers come back up. But here we are saying the same thing, I know I have for the past 30 some odd years, and congress has been slow to act.
SETH BODINE: In the 1990s many black farmers were promised debt relief, that's part of a billion dollar settlement with the USDA, but didn't get that money. Willard Tillman heads Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project. He says while the lawsuit paid out money to some farmers, no internal changes were made to route out racism.
WILLARD TILLMAN: I do not know where anybody was reprimanded for anything that they had done during that time.
SETH BODINE: Drusilla James is a rancher in Wewoka Oklahoma, she said she tried to get assistance from the Farm Service Agency to clear her land, but when she went into the office to answer would always be the same.

DRUSILLA JAMES: No. No assistance is available. None. Come back later. And you go back later and you get the same response. Nope, nothing's available, maybe in about three to six months, maybe next year. And you go there so often you already know the answer.
SETH BODINE: With the lack of support James had to work full time at the UPS to support her ranch. She was saving money, up to $20,000 just to do work on her land. Now she wants to expand and buy the 130 acres across the street, but she can't afford it and she feels like she can't turn to the Farm Service Agency.
DRUSILLA JAMES: You can only be told no so many times before you're really discouraged from really doing anything.
SETH BODINE: James isn't the only one having a hard time getting loans. Bristow Oklahoma Rancher Dray Williams tried countless times to get assistance before finally wrangling a small loan.
DRAY WILLIAMS: So I kept on, and kept on, and finally I got a loan for some cattle.
SETH BODINE: Even with cattle it was a fight to get land to go along with it. He says he hopes the $1 billion dollars in technical assistance in the relief bill makes it easier to access loans and other USDA programs. But ultimately the change comes down to the local level.
DRAY WILLAIMS: You can make all of the changes that you want, but the employees, the person that that's running that office, you can't change them. You can't change their mentality.
SETH BODINE: Farmer John Boyd Jr. remains optimistic and says the relief package is a good start. But he's calling on AG secretary Tom Vilsack to do more.
JOHN BOYD JR: The first thing Secretary Vilsack needs to see is, United States Department of Agriculture is open for business for black farmers and farmers of color too.
SETH BODINE: Vilsack is setting up in the equity commission at the USDA, and Boyd and others are calling him to address systemic racism in agriculture. Seth Bodine, Harvest Public Media.
KAYTE YOUNG: Find more from this reporting collective at HarvestPublicMedia.org 
(Music)
Here at WFIU we're in the midst of our Spring Fund Drive. If Earth Eats is one of your favorite shows here on WFIU let us know by making a pledge at WFIU.org/donate. And tell us what you love about the station in your comments.
And we know that some of you are tuning into Earth Eats from another station, and of course we encourage you to support your local public radio station which will likely be holding their own fund drive this spring.
You might be tuning in from your favorite podcast app. And if that's you, there's another way that you can support the show. You can subscribe, follow or favorite however your podcast service sets it up, and maybe take two minutes to leave a review. Mention what you like about the show. It means a lot to us and it helps other listeners find us. So thank you podcast listener, I'm happy you're here, and I look forward to hearing from you.
And once again for local folks, the place to make your pledge is WFIU.org/donate. Thank you.
RENEE REED: The Earth Eats team includes Eobon Binder, Mark Chilla, Toby Foster, Abraham Hill, Payton Knobeloch, Josephine McRobbie, Harvest Public Media and me, Renee Reed. 
KAYTE YOUNG: Special thanks this week to Taneisha Hemline and Joe O'Connell.
RENEE REED: Our theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey. Additional music on the show comes to us from the artist at Universal Productions Music. Earth Eats is produced and edited by Kayte Young and our executive producer is John Bailey.