Glenn Roberts
Founder, Anson Mills
Glenn Roberts is founder of Anson Mills in Columbia, South Carolina, which grows and mills one of the most diverse collections of heirloom grains in America. In 1998, Glenn followed a dream to resurrect the antebellum Southern cuisine that comprised the Carolina Rice Kitchen by founding Anson Mills. He began by producing a 30 acre crop of the nearly extinct Carolina Gourdseed White corn, a species that had dated back to the 17 century. After extensive research on growing and milling practices of the antebellum era, Roberts has managed to resuscitate over a dozen heirloom mill corn species, as well as Carolina Gold Rice and “Thirteen Colony” Red May wheat.
Presenter for the Following Session
- National Youth Summit on the Dust Bowl
In the 1930s drought and intensive farming in the Great Plains brought about dust storms, crop failure, and human misery in one of the worst ecological disasters in America’s history. The 2012 National Youth Summit will unpack this story and connect it with current issues of drought, agricultural sustainability, and national and global food security. The Summit will include segments from award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’s forthcoming film The Dust Bowl, and a discussion moderated by Huffington Post science correspondent Cara Santa Maria featuring: Ken Burns; Dust Bowl survivor Cal Crabill; USDA ecologist Debra Peters; 5th generation farmer Roy Bardole from Rippey, Iowa; and Glenn Roberts, farmer and founder of Anson Mills.
