Before she competed for the $10,000 prize on a recent episode of Food Network’s Family Recipe Showdown, Legenia Bearden found confidence in launching her spice business through the Cooperative Extension Service’s Share Grounds program.
“I’ve always wanted to cook on TV, since I was little,” Bearden said. “It’s nothing I ever really said out loud. But just being able to meet one of my goals, in getting my line of spices out through the Share Grounds program, it gave me the courage to take another step.”
Bearden launched four Sincerely Legenia spice mixes after participating in the Share Grounds program, which are now sold online and at Drug Emporium. All are keto diet friendly and include an all-purpose spice blend, a Cajun spice blend, a taco spice blend and a blackened seasoning blend.
Share Grounds is offered by the Cooperative Extension Service, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. For Arkansans interested in scaling up their home-based food business or becoming a value-added food producer, extension staff guide them step-by-step through the food safety standards and legal regulations of food entrepreneurship.
“I am always so grateful for Share Grounds and the start that they gave me,” Bearden said.
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Amanda Philyaw Perez, extension associate professor of food systems and food safety specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said Share Grounds was created to “bring the resources of extension and the University of Arkansas Food Innovation Center directly to rural and central Arkansas communities.”
“Our goal has always been to support the growth of local food businesses by providing technical assistance and access to a commercial kitchen,” Perez said. “With continued collaboration from our colleagues in food science at the University of Arkansas, we’re proud to keep supporting both home-based and commercial food start-ups across the state.”
BRINGING THE HEAT
Family Recipe Showdown, which focuses on Southern cooking, is set in New Orleans and hosted by Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer and Edgar “Dook” Chase, executive chef of Dooky Chase Restaurant.
Bearden said she was excited to represent Arkansas and the state’s culinary talent on the show.
“I love the fact that I can tell people I come from Arkansas,” Bearden said. “There’s this debate I run across sometimes, where people say, ‘Arkansas is not the South!’ But we are. To be able to represent us and show everyone that we have some amazing cooks here was an honor and a privilege.
“Bringing home the win just made it even more special for us,” Bearden said.
Bearden teamed up with her aunt, Cynthia Goodman, to bring home first place in the Aug. 14 episode of the competition show. Bearden said their victory felt “surreal.”
“Initially, when I got to the show, I was just happy to be there,” Bearden said. “But once I started talking to the other contestants and the producers and learned more about the show, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve got to win!’ I’m representing not only my family, but also my state. When they said our name, I was so relieved and grateful.”
Bearden and Goodman competed in two rounds of cooking. For the first challenge, tasked with cooking a main course and dessert using cast iron skillets, the pair made a Cajun-spiced skillet with crawfish, shrimp and crab meat, along with an apple crisp and whipped cream.
For their final round, Bearden and Goodman were asked to prepare their take on chicken and dumplings. They prepared the winning dish with a unique twist, creating a buttermilk cornbread dumpling rather than a traditional flour-based dough.
“My challenge was beating the clock, making sure that we finished on time, so that was really my main concern,” Bearden said. “It was a mix of emotions — definitely nerve-wracking, but it was still fun.”
ENCOURAGED BY EXTENSION EXPERIENCE
Bearden started cooking on social media in 2019. In 2021, the Little Rock native began researching how to start a spice business in Arkansas and came across information about the Share Grounds program.
In addition to her cooking efforts, Bearden is the founder and executive director of Bearden Productions Center for the Arts in North Little Rock. She said running the nonprofit arts organization requires a “totally different” set of skills.
“I had no idea where to start in the food business,” Bearden said. “Extension took me by the hand and guided me through the whole process, and this made it so much easier for me.”
Bearden said she received education on “everything that I needed to run a successful spice business,” including information on how to legally incorporate her business. When the time came to create her first large batch of spices, Bearden said extension staff sat down with her to figure out the math.
“My concern was that I didn’t want to compromise the flavor at all by making a larger batch,” Bearden said. “I wanted it to be spot on. We ran the numbers for a good 45 minutes, just going over what it would take. When that first batch came out, it was exactly right. I was so thrilled.”
Bearden credits Share Grounds with much of the success with her Sincerely Legenia spice mixes.
“If it weren’t for Share Grounds, I would not have been able to launch my spice business at all,” Bearden said. “It’s what got me started, and it was amazing.”
Bearden said she encourages other would-be food entrepreneurs to take advantage of the assistance and guidance that the program offers.
“Get started with the program and stick with it, and watch your dream and vision flourish,” she said. “Share Ground does exactly what it says it’s going to do for your business. It taught me everything I needed to know to run a safe, clean kitchen that meets Department of Health standards.”
For details, visit the Share Grounds webpage at https://uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/local-foods/sharegrounds.aspx on the Cooperative Extension Service website or contact David Hill at dhill@uada.edu.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
Rebekah Hall is with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.