GrainsWest Summer 2018

The Food Issue 2018 grainswest.com 31 Photo:ChristinaRusso the craft brewing industry, the Marshalls’ flour and other food products are made largely from grains grown by Alberta farmers. “People who have an interest in where and how their food was grown and produced are absolutely aware and appreciative of the fine quality of wheat and other grains grown in Canada,” said Tony. And while many of his clients are keen to buy Alberta-grown products, he said purchasing locally also makes good sense for his business due to the high transportation cost of importing grains. Marshall has noticed an increase in flour use for breadmaking and attributes it to a surging interest in sourdough. “It really is an artisan revival,” he said. “On Instagram, you can see the beautiful work that home and commercial bakers around the world are doing with sourdough.” He said this is driving sales of the all- purpose organic white flour that is the business’s cornerstone flour product. In turn, this has pulled up sales of whole-grain flour as health-conscious bakers use it to augment the white. Few wheat farmers produce their own flour. However, Jeff Young has milled his own Redstone Mills flour near Joffre since 2012, selling direct to home-baking customers and Red Deer’s Big Bend Market. He also peddles flour at farmers markets where sales are brisk. “I’m trying to offer my customers a good product,” he said. “I don’t add preservatives, it’s just the wheat we grow going straight into the bag and into the grocery store.” Young said he is likely to ramp up flour production as an ongoing value-added initiative to boost the bottom line on the family farm. Though he is not sure what the extent of demand for Alberta-grown flour may be, he has begun to research the possibility of exporting his flour outside the province. BUILDINGON BREAD In line with Angie Keller’s suggestion that launching a big- city sourdough bakery may be a timely opportunity, the four members of The Grain Exchange bakery co-operative are building just such a business. In a rental space this past April, they began baking their first products in a recently purchased oven, producing granola, frozen ready-bake biscuits and no-bake energy balls as part of a bake-share option offered with YYC Growers and Distributors produce boxes. The group plans to lease permanent space and find additional baking professionals as members in coming months. Member Jared Smith, who handles the group’s finances, said bread is the ideal expression of the co-op’s entrepreneurial goals. The plan is to produce high-quality, nutritious foods while creating good-paying jobs. “We think that with a daily-made artisan product like sourdough bread, we can tell a story of craftsmanship and show the value that’s in the product,” he said. “There is renewed interest in bread, but it’s related to an overall, renewed interest in quality food,” concluded Smith. “It aligns with people caring more about their health and wanting good-quality food.” KaelinWhittaker (far left) of The Ruby Apron conducts bread baking classes in her Edmonton home. She recently launched Real Bread Alberta to promote bread as a community-building food.