Steve Alexander

Chicago

Agribusiness Broadcaster at WGN-AM (Chicago, IL)

Featured in: Favicon

wgnradio.com Favicon

nzherald.co.nz Favicon

thestar.com.my Favicon

unionleader.com Favicon

newsbreak.com Favicon

leadertelegram.com Favicon

telegraphherald.com Favicon

espn.in

espn.com.au

Articles

He's a BBQ Hall of Famer. His name is Meathead.

1 week ago | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

"Anything you can cook indoors you can cook outdoors--except better."First things first: Where did Meathead get his name? In the audio clip below, he tells WGN's Steve Alexander his dad gave it to him. Not at birth, though. It was after he and his dad watched "All in the Family," the '70s TV series where Archie Bunker dubbed his new son-in-law "Meathead" because of his polar opposite political and social beliefs. "Dad and I were on opposite sides of the political fence," says Meathead Goldwyn.
Summer baking and decorating camps for kids

1 week ago | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

Parents looking for things to keep their kids busy over the summer may want to check out baking and decorating camps in Naperville. For nearly a century, one of the biggest names in baking has been Wilton. The Naperville-based company is the go-to brand for professional and home bakers for everything from baking pans and tools to icing pouches and sprinkles.
The Soybean Sniff Test

1 month ago | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

Early planting of soybeans is being adapted by a growing number of Midwest farmers. The potential reward is huge. There's also a big risk. That's where the sniff test comes in. Here's how it works: "Dig up the soybean and hold it up to your nose. If it smells like earth, you're good. But if you can squeeze it and a liquid comes out and it smells rotten? Guess what, it's rotten." That's how Brad Mason, a field agronomist for Pioneer Seeds in Western Illinois describes the sniff test.
The Pickle Capital of the World

Mar 25, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

The #1 pickle brand is Claussen's and every pickle chomped on in the U.S. is made in Woodstock, Illinois, now with the assistance of A.I.In 1978, the Illinois State Legislature proclaimed St. Charles, Illinois, "Pickle Capital of the World." That was solely because Pickle Packers International, a non-profit focused on educating consumers about the benefits of pickles, was located there until it disbanded in 2004. But not one pickle is produced in St. Charles.
DOJ opens investigation into high egg prices

Mar 9, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

Watchdog group Farm Action asked for the investigation three weeks earlier, suggesting dominant egg producers have leveraged the bird flu crisis to fix prices and amass record profits, using coordinated efforts to restrict supply and sustain inflated prices.
Remodeling your kitchen? Here's how to get the most for your money

Mar 6, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

Posted:Updated:With many homeowners deciding to hang on to their 3% mortgages and stay put, remodeling the kitchen is gaining popularity. A lot has changed in kitchen styles (if you still have avocado-green appliances, seek help), and in the audio clip below, Sarah Leonard, owner of Legacy Properties tells WGN's Steve Alexander things to do to get the most bang for your buck when investing in cabinets, floors, appliances, and more.
A dairy farm that has no cows

Feb 21, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

It doesn't have pigs, either, but it sells pork nationwide and is part of BaconFest 2025. One would expect Jones Dairy Farm, a seventh-generation farm in America's Dairyland, Wisconsin, to be all about milk and other dairy products. It isn't, and hasn't had cows on its farm since the 1980s. But it's big in bacon and other pork products and is one of the vendors passing out samples of bacon at Milwaukee's BaconFest (February 23, 2025).
Another home kitchen-to-CEO story

Feb 18, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

"Just do it," is Stephania Marzelia's advice to kitchen creators who want to turn it into a business. In her case, a "happy accident" fueled by the pandemic lockdown got her business started. Stephania Marzelia has these words of advice for kitchen creators who want to turn their creations into a business: "Just go for it." She went for it, working as a barista in Chicago coffee shops, starting at age 16 at Starbucks, and later at Cafe Umbria, where she learned about making coffee syrups.
How to go from kitchen creator to national brand CEO

Feb 17, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

Tips from a Chicago mom who thought baby food should be better and turned her kitchen concoctions into a national brand. GloBowl founder and CEO Erica Bethe Levin flipped the equation: Instead of necessity being the mother of invention, she's a mother who invented something-a new type of baby food-out of necessity.
How one Chicago company got into Costco stores

Feb 11, 2025 | wgnradio.com | Steve Alexander

It can be a jackpot of exposure for companies that make it through the pitch process. One CEO tells how he did it. For Baja Foods CEO Art Velasquez, the thought of seeing his company's Mexican dinners in the frozen food aisles of Costco stores didn't cross his mind. "It was never anything on my radar to try to do," he tells WGN's Steve Alexander. For nearly 25 years, the Southside Chicago company has been making enchiladas, burritos, tamales, and more that were under other brands' labels.