Learning a Few Things with “Living With The Land”

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 29, 2023

 

It had been a while since I’d ridden Living With The Land in EPCOT.  A gentle boat ride through the EPCOT greenhouses, it is always a learning experience, with a peek behind the scenes at not only how the horticulturists at Disney grow more than 15 tons of food each year for the park’s restaurants like Garden Grill, but also how EPCOT scientists are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop new growing technologies. 

Plus, it is a relaxing time in an otherwise busy park.  It’s also a fun stop during the holidays, when cast members decorate the attraction with colorful lights and festive decorations.

Last weekend, with EPCOT super crowded, and my need to get away from some of the crowds, I headed over to Living With The Land, and noticed something that usually isn’t there.  Studded throughout the sandy pathways were small, easily overlooked signs that informed guests where those particular edible plants and harvests would be showing up during the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. So cool!

 

Among the signs, I spotted one for the celery being grown in the greenhouse, which I’d be eating later in the day at Canada’s Global Marketplace in the form of their “Canadian Cheddar and Bacon Soup.”  Earlier in the day, we’d apparently already eaten the mustard being grown there, as part of the “Bratwurst on a Pretzel Roll with Mustard” in the Germany Marketplace.

Basil is one of my favorite foods, and I grow lots of it at home, so it was fun to know that the basil in this greenhouse was going to the “Thai Shrimp With Rice Noodles” bowls at the Noodle Exchange.

The cabbage?  Heading to Flavors From Fire to be served on the “Impossible Burger Slider.” Parsley? Served up in the “Croissant Aux Escargots” in France’s Global Marketplace.

  

If you’ve snacked at The Fry Basket near the Creations Shop, you’ve eaten the sweet potatoes grown in the greenhouse!  The tomatoes are shipping out to the Kenya Global Marketplace to be part of the (delicious!) “Kenyan Coffee Barbecued Beef Tenderloin.”

 

The fruits and veggies being grown in the EPCOT greenhouses aren’t just props – they’re real, and you’ve been eating them without knowing it!  The Food & Wine signs I mentioned above are just a few of the many that pointed out where the bounty will be heading.  Just a little extra perk during a relaxing boat ride through the greenhouses! 

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.