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October 27-28, 2023
Southern Foodways Symposium ⟶
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October 27-28, 2023
Southern Foodways Symposium ⟶

Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Highlands Bar & Grill at Work

ORAL HISTORY

Michael and Lindy Dean

Terra Preta Farm

Michael Dean, born in 1970, and his wife, Lindy Dean, born in 1978, grow produce for Birmingham restaurants. Michael waited tables at Bottega from 1996 to 2001, at a time when Stitt began building a network of local farmers. Stitt asked his employees if anyone wanted to grow vegetables. Dean took him up on his offer. Dean continued to wait tables and grow vegetables for two years before he began to farm full time in 2001. Lindy began to volunteer at Dean’s farm that same year. In 2003, Michael and Lindy became business partners.

Today, Michael and Lindy grow vegetables and herbs for Highlands and more than a dozen other Birmingham restaurants. Now called Terra Preta, their farm in Vincent, Alabama, catalyzed a network of small farmers that now feeds a city increasingly dedicated to locally grown food.

Date of interview:
2019-01-26

Interviewer:
Eric Velasco

Photographer:
SFA Archive

Download Transcript

“

“The average piece of food travels fifteen hundred miles to be eaten. This is coming thirty miles in a couple hours, so, it makes a big difference.” – Michael Dean

“A lot of the things that we grow are very fragile... You have to be very particular with the soil conditions; how you water them, how often you water them. We do most everything by hand.” – Lindy Dean

Other Project Interviews

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Zack Redes

Zack Redes works as chef de cuisine at Highlands.

Interview

Patrick Noling

Patrick Noling works as a waiter at Highlands.

Interview

Guadalupe Castillo

Guadalupe Castillo works as the day kitchen supervisor and raw bar chef at Highlands.

Interview

Goren Avery

Goren Avery works as a waiter at Highlands.

Interview

Drew Robinson

Drew Robinson served as chef de cuisine at Highlands from 2000 to 2003.

Interview

Dolester Miles

Dolester Miles works as pastry chef at Highlands.

Interview

Chris Conner

Chris Conner works as a bartender at Highlands.

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The Southern Foodways Alliance drives a more progressive future by leading conversations that challenge existing constructs, shape perspectives, and foster meaningful discussions. We reconsider the past with research, scrutiny, and documentation.

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