Ágnes was born into a horseradish family, and as a small child, she remembers "pulling out" horseradish roots with her father. She was also chosen from a pool of day laborers by the social land program and promoted to producer in 1995. She has grown alongside her family year after year, and she is proud to have laid a financial foundation for her children's future. Her two adult children have chosen different paths; "they are a weaker generation than we are," she says indulgently. Ágnes has no spare time; she is also the president of the National Gypsy Local-Government in Újléta, and when she is not working on her own property, she goes to work for others.

Kálmán grew up in Pocsaj's gypsy settlement, in severe poverty, raised by his grandmother rather than his parents. He later moved to Újléta, where he dropped out of high school, rented an apartment, and married in an attempt to gain independence. He began as a day laborer on horseradish fields, where he met grower Attila Juhász, who taught him the tricks of horseradish cultivation and the fundamentals of success in life in general. Kálmán finally graduated after twenty years of horseradish cultivation, and after earning a college bachelor's degree, he began working as a teaching assistant at the local elementary school.

For quite some time, I've felt a sense of deficiency in the area of raising children for life. We could use the tanoda to introduce children to horseradish cultivation processes, for instance, through training kitchens, and make them fall in love with horseradish.

Zoltán was born into a horseradish farming family, where he diligently helped out even as a child. He and his parents began with one acre of land, which has since grown to several hectares of productive land. In the words of Zoltán, "when there is something to do," his day begins as early as 4 A.M. and does not end until sunset. He is still a bachelor, but he believes that the time has come to start a family.

My days fly by, and I don't have time to be bored or daydream.

Katalin met teacher Dr. László Géczy at Nyíregyháza University, who instilled her passion for horseradish as a domestic horseradish expert. She didn't stop there; she later wrote her doctoral dissertation on it, and her current research also focuses on horseradish. She felt she needed to get even closer to her research subject, so she and her husband began growing horseradish in their backyard. Her research on the genetic collection of horseradish is critical in assisting producers in developing new varieties.

Miklós has been bending over the balks for 35 years, spending his days in the border from planting to harvesting. He begins irrigating and "flooding" the horseradish fields early in the morning, counting himself fortunate to be able to pay for the irrigation fuel; "those who can't afford it can just wait for the rain," he ponders. He spends his little free time picking mushrooms in the forest. Miklós had already had two spinal hernia operations by the time he was fifty-five years old.

Attila is one of the dreamers of the Hajdúsági Torma Jövőjéért Foundation, the driving force of the local horseradish community, he has several decades of professional experience, he learned the tricks of the trade from his parents as a child, but he also speaks modestly about his role in the life of the community:

“I'm a speck in all this.”

He is enthusiastic about promoting horseradish; he also enjoys cooking and creating new horseradish dishes.

For several decades, Erzsébet has been a well-liked and respected member of the Újléta community; in 2014, she was elected for the second time as mayor of Újléta; and her husband, like almost everyone else in the village, is involved in horseradish cultivation. Local producers approached the mayor with the idea of the foundation in 2021, and she was delighted to lend her name to the initiative. The foundation's program includes, among other things, the restart of the social land program, in which disadvantaged locals who have been working as day laborers are given the opportunity to produce independently on municipal land. It is critical for the foundation to collaborate with organizations; a working relationship has already been established with the Reformed Church, led by Reverend Károly Keresztyén.

Horseradish means life here at Újléta.

Károly moved from Monostorpály fifteen years ago, and before that he and his family were involved in the production of cucumbers and peppers, but "the purchase of those has almost disappeared from this region," he says, so they switched to horseradish cultivation. Károly cheerfully tells us that when "there is something to do," the entire family goes out to the fields, and both children and adults participate.

This is what we do every day; if you don't do it every day, you can't expect much from it. You must be a true believer; otherwise, it will not work. It is true...

Máté works full-time as a warehouseman and forklift driver at a spraying machine factory in Debrecen, and he began horseradish production five years ago, farming two hectares with his partner. He was able to purchase a tractor this year, eliminating the need to rent one. He enjoys eating his own crops, and when he gets a cold, he treats himself with horseradish instead of medicine. He and his partner decided it was time to start a family, and they both desired children.

My partner and I want to “horseradish” in a larger area.

Károly Tiszteletes grew up in Kárpátalja before studying theology at Debrecen. The unexpected outbreak of the covid epidemic disrupted the community's formation after his first months here, but despite the initial difficulties, the changed circumstances had a more forging effect on the community. After the epidemic had passed, he had already organized two family days and a cooking competition in the settlement, where people could escape the monotony of working weekdays and recharge and continue their daily lives with renewed vigor. The Reformed Church has joined the initiative of the Social Land Program Újratöltve, and they plan to start a horseradish processing factory with the help of local residents in the near future.