Bread is Agriculture: Greenmarket Bakers and Local Grains

June 13, 2012
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged Grains

In 2010, after years of conversations with its bakers and farmers, Greenmarket implemented a rule requiring its bakers to source at least 15% of the flour they used from local farms and mills. As an organization which seeks to strengthen regional agriculture, Greenmarket wanted to ensure that all of its producers were in support of this mission. On the other hand, much of the infrastructure to grow and process grains in the Northeast had been lost throughout the decades. By implementing the 15% local flour rule, Greenmarket was asking its bakers to reflect the organization’s mission in their business models, while recognizing the inherent challenges that sourcing local flour could create. Now, two years later, Greenmarket is proud to announce that its bakers use an average of 50% local flour in their baked goods. New infrastructure has been added to the Northeast’s grain-shed, and this sector of the food system continues to grow. To highlight the success of this partnership between Greenmarket and its bakers, over the next few months Greenmarket will be sharing regular installments in our Bread is Agriculture series. Look out for interviews with bakers on the GrowNYC blog; Baked Good of the Week features on Facebook; and literature at the info booth at our markets, including 15 Reasons to Eat Local Grain.

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