Perhaps Midwest ground that's avoided? (8)
I believe the answer is:
eschewed
'avoided?' is the definition.
(eschewing is a kind of avoiding)
'perhaps midwest ground' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'midwest' could be 'es' and 'es' is present in the answer.
'ground' could be 'chewed' (chewing is a kind of grinding) and 'chewed' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'that's' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eschewed that I've seen before include "Avioded or abstained from" , "Shunned, kept away from" , "not made use of" , "Deliberately avoided - chew seed (anag)" , "Steered clear of" .)