America The Bountiful Debuts Special Episode in Honor of America’s 250th Anniversary
A one-hour special explores the historic foods, drinks, and agricultural ingenuity that fueled America’s food independence - Premiering on public television nationwide on July 3, 2026
HUBBARD, Ohio, June 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the country prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, the James Beard Award-nominated original food & travel series, America the Bountiful, returns with an hour-long episode, America the Bountiful: America’s 250th Anniversary Special, uncovering how American colonists declared their food independence from Britain. Premiering July 3, 2026, the special airs on Create TV, with program usage and streaming on public television beginning July 10, 2026. Distributed by American Public Television, the 250th Anniversary special is hosted, created, and produced by TV personality and cookbook author Capri Cafaro.
The anniversary special highlights the historic foods and drinks that colonists were growing, harvesting, and producing as they became food-independent, a critical factor in their ultimate victory over the British. In the period leading up to 1776 and continuing through the Revolutionary War, several events led to a drastic change in the foodways, agricultural practices, and eating habits of American colonists. Drawing on Indigenous foraging and hunting traditions and knowledge of the land, colonists brewed patriotic “Liberty Teas”, utilized horses and custom-built sieve floors to process wheat berries, and hunted the abundant small game that sustained both families and soldiers. By prioritizing self-sufficiency and agricultural ingenuity while minimizing waste, the colonies laid the groundwork for a new nation.
Join Cafaro, host of the award-nominated podcast and radio show, Eat Your Heartland Out, and author of the cookbook United We Eat, along with Credo Nonfiction Co-Director and Co-Executive Creator Jesse Roesler, as they travel colonial America’s backroads to uncover our founding food traditions and how colonists were able to declare their food independence from Britain.
“We uncovered a powerful truth making this special: food independence was not just about sustenance, it was a revolutionary act,” said Capri Cafaro, America the Bountiful’s Host and Executive Producer. “By exploring the foods and farming traditions of our nation’s founders, we found that the European settlers' agricultural success depended on enslaved people's labor, knowledge, and expertise. I hope this special inspires viewers to see our country’s history through a delicious new lens as we celebrate 250 years of America.”
Selected special highlights include:
“The Soup That Won the War”: Among the special’s most compelling stories is that of Pepper Pot Soup, a pepper pot stew that sustained starving colonial soldiers at Valley Forge in December 1777. Prepared by George Washington’s enslaved chef, Hercules Posey, the meal is credited with reviving morale during the Revolutionary War’s most desperate winter. This dish, brought to America through the culinary traditions of enslaved people, became known as “the soup that won the war.”
From Milk to Cheese - Colonial Ingenuity and Survival: The special also spotlights the role of livestock and resourcefulness in colonial survival. Goats were indispensable to colonial homesteads: their milk could be consumed fresh, but with no refrigeration, it would go rancid within days. Resourceful colonists turned that milk into cheese and extended its life from days to months, ensuring communities could feed themselves through long winters and uncertain times. This precision problem-solving and chemistry are part of the story of America’s independence.
"It was fascinating to uncover how pivotal food independence and agricultural ingenuity were to the success of the American Revolution,” said Jesse Roesler, Credo Nonfiction Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer. “I believe we can draw powerful inspiration from that resilient, self-sufficient mindset to strengthen our own food systems today."
“I found it fascinating that The America the Bountiful 250th anniversary special gives viewers unexpected insights on George Washington’s leadership in transforming colonial food culture and agricultural practices,” says Thomas Davison, Vice President, Growth at American Public Television. “We learn that, both as a framer and as a farmer, Washington helped guide the future of our nation towards independence.”
“American Farmland Trust is honored to support this 250th anniversary special. Our partnership with America the Bountiful has elevated the role farms play in our nation’s story," said John Piotti, President and CEO of American Farmland Trust. "As we commemorate 250 years of independence, this moment underscores a powerful truth: farmland isn’t just part of our history—it is the foundation of future food security and economic resilience.”
America the Bountiful is sponsored by American Farmland Trust.
For additional information, visit: AmericatheBountifulShow.com. Preview of America’s 250th Anniversary Special trailer is available here. Find your local Create station here. The APT catalog page is available at APTonline.org.
About Capri Cafaro
Radio Host, TV Personality, Cookbook Author, and Managing Director of Bountiful Media
Capri is host and creator of America the Bountiful, a James Beard Award-nominated original food & travel series on public television exploring the regional food traditions of America’s heartland, showing that America’s Heartland is not just flyover country but a rich cornucopia of cultures inspiring surprisingly diverse flavors on plates across the United States.
Capri is also the host of Eat Your Heartland Out, a Taste Awards-nominated podcast and radio show about the intersection of food and culture in the American Midwest. The show is produced by the Heritage Radio Network, a leader in culinary audio storytelling, and distributed on the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), which provides content to public radio affiliates across the United States. The show has aired on select NPR affiliates across the Midwest and aired on Sirius XM Channel 147/Rural Radio for 4 years.
Capri’s debut cookbook, United We Eat, received international acclaim and features 50 recipes that tell America’s unique story, demonstrating how food can unite and bring people together. As part of her virtual book tour, Capri appeared on a variety of television cooking segments on stations across North America, from Portland, Oregon, to Toronto, Ontario.
Under the banner of Bountiful Media, Capri uses her culinary storytelling expertise to provide compelling food and travel audio and video content for organizations and brands, including Blue Star Families, Edible Communities Magazines, and Harrowsmith Magazine in Canada.
About Jesse Roesler
Jesse Roesler, Creative Principal and Executive Director of Credo Nonfiction, is an Emmy and James Beard award-winning filmmaker whose work has moved millions via SXSW, The Travel Channel and The New York Times. Jesse is currently showrunning several new streaming docuseries for Chip & Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network, and his series The Wild Harvest (streaming on Tastemade as Field, Forest, Feast) was recognized by The James Beard Foundation with food media’s highest honor.
About American Public Television (APT)
American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and nearly one-half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. APT’s diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performance, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, children’s series and news and current affairs programs. America’s Test Kitchen, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, The Chavis Chronicles, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Doc Martin, Hope Street, Lidia’s Kitchen, Midsomer Murders, My Life is Murder, Pati’s Mexican Table, The Real Wild West, Rick Steves’ Europe, Samantha Brown’s Places to Love, Table for All with Buki Elegbede, Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APT’s programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes Create®TV — featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming — and WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science, and documentary channel. More information at APTonline.org
About Create
Create® is the premier lifestyle channel featuring public television’s most popular how-to series, focused on food, travel, home & garden, arts & crafts, fitness, and lifestyle. Create is produced and distributed by American Public Television (APT); The WNET Group (New York); and GBH Boston in association with National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) and PBS. Create TV is carried by more than 240 local public television stations nationwide, reaching 85% of USTVHH, and is seen in 26 of the top 30 U.S. television markets. Create’s companion website, CreateTV.com features extensive video, the Create TV schedule, program and host information.
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