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Rice Farm Tour in Memphis

Sharon Palmer

Have you ever wondered how rice is grown? I certainly have! And on my ever-expanding quest to learn more about agriculture, I traveled all the way to Tennessee and Mississippi to learn about how this plant food is cultivated on the    Uncle Ben’s  Rice Farm Tour. Rice is the number one consumed food in the world, and it sustains half of all the people on the planet—24% of the population uses rice as a way to make a living.

As part of our complimentary rice farm tour, we also got to tour the Uncle Ben’s Processing Plant in Greenville, MS, which has a zero waste policy! How cool is that! All of the waste is either recycled or incinerated. We also learned about the amazing   wind farm  Mars (who owns Uncle Ben’s) has in Texas, which generates 100% of the electricity needs of the Mars’ US operations. You’d be surprised at how simple and minimally processed rice is, from start to finish, it’s just a matter of packaging, (precooking for some products), and adding a few flavoring ingredients.

I’m really in love with Uncle Ben’s Beginners program, which comes together to support families cooking together. Read all about it    here.

Murrell Family Rice Farm

As part of the rice farm tour, we traveled all the way to Mississippi to visit the third generation Murrell Family farm. Here is the farm in the beautiful Mississippi countryside. You can see acres and acres of rice growing behind me.

Terry and Carter Murrell

I got to spend some time with Terry and Carter Murrell. The farm started with Terry’s dad Raymond, who just passed away a few years ago. They are passionate about growing high quality rice in a sustainable fashion.

Murrell Family Rice Farm

This time of year, the rice is a tall grass. In order to get started, the field must be flooded, but the Murrells are using a technique called AWD—Alternate Wetting and Drying, which is much more sustainable. Rather than flooding the field for the entire lifetime of the rice plant, they wet the field and let it dry out. This can seriously reduce GHGE and water usage. Uncle Ben’s is working worldwide to promote this agricultural technique.

Murrell Family Rice Farm

Here’s the rice plant up close, the tassels haven’t formed yet, but when they do the flowers will emerge and then a string of kernels will appear on the grass before it is harvested and then dried in the silo.

Murrell Family Rice Farm

You can see the form of irrigation the Murrells’ use. They have their own well to furnish water, which is also assisted by Mother Nature, since Mississippi gets quite a bit of rain. Rice grows really well in this part of the world.

Raw Rice

Back at the Murrell’s office, I got to run my hands through the last harvest of raw rice—this is rice that still has its husk on it.

Raw Rice

Here’s a close up of the raw rice, before the husk is removed.

Rice Bran

When you remove the bran or outer covering of whole grain rice to make white rice, this is the byproduct. This is nutritious stuff, full of healthy fats and fiber. That’s why I recommend eating the whole grain of rice.

White Rice

Here’s what freshly milled white rice looks like—I watched them take a handful of brown rice, and toss it in the processor to remove the bran.

Beale Street, Memphis

We stayed at the Westin in Memphis, right next to the historic Beale Street, the heart of the city’s soulful music history. Here’s a shot with some of my dietitian friends and colleagues (Melissa, Mary, myself, and Sylvia) who also came on the farm tour.

Beale Street, Memphis

The street is lined with cool bars and music lounges.

Memphis Bridge

The Memphis Bridge connects Arkansas to Tennessee—my mom grew up just on the other side of that bridge.

Elvis wardrobe, Memphis Rock n Soul Museum

Some of the most famous people in soul and rock—Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, Isaac Hayes, and Elvis—recorded in Memphis. The museum was such an interesting look at how this music got started.

Al Green’s Note, Beale Street, Memphis

Just like the stars in Hollywood’s streets, Memphis has notes for famous musicians embedded in the sidewalks. Love this one of the ever smooth Al Green.

Flight, Memphis

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at this restaurant and wine bar, and I got a fabulous plant-powered option which included a stuffed mushroom ravioli.

Flight, Memphis

My other small plate included this purse filled with ratatouille. So good!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience spending time in the South, where people are so kind and warm. One of the best parts of the farm tour was just driving for miles in the Mississippi countryside and stopping at a local rest stop. I’m thrilled to see that rice—which naturally takes a great deal of water to produce—is being cultivated in a more sustainable way, from the farm to the processing plant. And best of all, rice is delicious and wholesome—it can be the foundation of a wonderful plant-powered meal, such as rice and beans, tofu stir-fry, or a brown rice vegetable salad.

 

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