The Flour Factor: Just How Local is Local Wheat?

We've been working on getting some answers about the locations of wheat growers who supply our flours.  Hillcrest Foods (our flour distributor) was unable to provide definitive information, so we decided to go to the next source in our short supply chain, Champlain Valley Milling in Westport.  Investigating how our vendor-partners work with their raw ingredients helps us become more aware of the integrity of our materials and the views of the people producing them.  After conducting some research, we discovered CVM's owner, Sam Sherman, is dedicated to helping NY grain growers perfect and distribute their wheat.  On an active and ongoing basis, he collaborates with farmers, bakers and organizations like NOFA to help boost NY organic grain production and use.  Mr. Sherman started the company in 1985, it remains family-owned and they process only organic wheat (absolutely no GMO).  We order almost all of our flours from them and we're very happy to be partnering with a small (in comparison to some other mills), local company whose values are inline with our own with regard to supporting local, sustainable farming.

This morning, I (Britin) spoke with Sam's daughter, Arya, who helps run the mill; she graciously answered all of my questions.  Here's a rundown of what I discovered:

• In general, most of Champlain Valley's wheat comes from the Midwest, but there are a few farms in Central NY that provide them organic grains.  Arya (pronounced "Era") explained to me that CV is reluctant to give out the names of the farms due to an incident with a business owner who circumvented the miller, went straight to the farmer and then handled the whole affair in a, shall we say politely, less than forthcoming manner.  Champlain Valley doesn't give out the names of their grain partners any longer in an effort to protect the farmers they are trying to help support. They do an admirable job of distributing their local flours affordably, with a low carbon footprint (the grain takes a direct route to the mill).  We're okay with this for the time being, what do you think?

• The Greenmarket Blend All Purpose White and Whole Wheat Flours we just received contain 25% Regional Grain (from just over the border in Canada).  The rest comes from Montana.  While 25% local wheat is higher than the (apparently rigorous) standards required of Greenmarket NYC vendors of 15%, this percentage doesn't jive with our idea of truly local flour.  If it was all we could get, then we'd be glad to buy it regularly, fortunately there are other options.  

• Other materials we use in our bakery (dairy products, vegetables, some fruits, honey and maple syrup) are fairly easy to obtain within the proscribed 100 mile radius that is generally understood as local, but wheat is a different story and a fascinating one.  Wheat had been grown for centuries here - originally on Long Island - but is only recently making a comeback in our state (lengthy history & current info on NY wheat: http://www.foodsystemsnyc.org/node/1073).  The short story is: wheat crops in NY can be difficult to regulate due to the weather and there are ongoing experiments with (often ancient) varieties that produce high enough protein levels to be appropriate for modern bread baking.  According to Ayra, in the last several years local farmers have been encouraged to grow organic wheat and last year's crop was superb, but even with a high level of interest expressed by the NY baking community and the ability to distribute it, Champlain Valley only sold about 2,000 pounds of local flour in 2010.

• The Organic Whole Spelt Flour we have been using for some time is grown 100% in NY State and supplied by one farm.  We use the spelt in our (aptly named) Spelt loaf and some of our Muffins.

• Champlain Valley Milling does have available a 100% NY-grown All Purpose White flour for a comparable price.  It will be available from Hillcrest on January 24 and we'll be exchanging some of the 50# bags of the Greenmarket Blend we received for that as soon as possible.  Nick blends a bit of AP in our Spelt, Rye and Whole Wheat loaves and we use it for our Bialys, Croissants, Scones and Cakes.

• CV also has an Organic Whole Wheat that is 90% NY-grown (better than 25% and from a NY farmer, we'll take it).  We'll have to cycle through the Greenmarket sack we have now before we can order it again.  We use it for our Whole Wheat and Hearty Multigrain loaves and most of our Muffins.

• According to Ayra, our Rye comes from South Dakota, but there are some NY farmers working on growing a suitable variety.  If any becomes available, you can be sure we'll be trying it.

• Our Mt. Marcy Hi-Gluten flour (used in our Bialys and Vegan Cinnamon Buns) hails from Montana - we're not able to get locally-grown right now (as far as we know).

Discovering just the right questions to ask our suppliers in order to maintain our values of supporting local farms, refraining from consuming pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and GMO foods, and understanding the detailed outlook of the small business owners we partner is often like navigating through a maze!  We're happy to make the effort, because we care where our food (and the food we're offering to you) comes from.  Part of building a small, growing business is learning about and understanding the issues of people we come in contact with (suppliers & consumers alike).  We welcome your contribution to our discussion about local wheat and other local food issues.  Don't be afraid to comment!

Your bakers,

Britin & Nick

AGB Weekly Roundup

All Good has got so much good news to share this week, we thought we'd post a roundup!

First, and most importantly, we've finally got more local flour in our bakery.  Our delivery this week from Champlain Valley Milling included locally-grown, organic Greenmarket All Purpose and Wheat flours.  We've been occasionally using a local Stoneground white, but this is the first local flour in bulk we've received.  We're very excited to begin using it and still working on the farm-source question.  Here's a (long) discussion about local wheat if you're interested in knowing more about it and local bakers using it: http://www.valleytable.com/article.php?article=002+Features%2FHudson+Valley+wheat%2C+the+next+frontier

We've finalized our regular delivery of local free-range eggs this week.  Our friends from our days at the New Baltimore Farmer's Market, Ross & Liz of Raven's Roost Farms (in NB) will be driving up to exchange bread for eggs every two weeks.  Ross & Liz are prime examples of our area's small working farmers and they "strive to be wise stewards of the land".  They raise a small number of grass-fed lambs & pastured poultry, and Liz spins & felts beautiful wool (our daughter has one of her hats).  Their animals are fed without the use of pesticides.  Raven's Roost is a member of the Delmar Farmer's Market now, please plan to stop and see them once we open again in Spring. 

We (and other Delmar Market vendors) are working with market member Cheryl Franzten of Franzten's Scenic Acres (http://www.frantzensscenicacres.com/) to organize a monthly drop-off in Delmar of various farm and other agricultural products.  If you don't currently have a source for humanely-raised organic chicken, grass-fed beef & pork, eggs, locally-sourced baked goods and other fresh foods, please email Cheryl with your interest. (frantzenc@msn.com)  First drop-off should be in a couple of weeks.  More small farmers & producers are coming together to pave their own way!

Dan Livingston, the food coordinator for the Northeastern Organic Farmer's Association conference in Saratoga January 21-23, in search of a local bakery, Googled "Albany organic bread" and called us a few days ago!  We've been commissioned for 84 dozen hamburger/sandwich buns (1008 to be exact).  They've got great wheat connections in NY so we'll be starting a dialogue soon with them about that and Dan helps distribute local farm stuffs in Binghamton via an online Farmer's Market there.  https://www.nofany.org/events/winter-conference

We've become proud sponsors of Tri-City Trad's Jam & Sing Thing January 14, 15 & 16 at the Christ United Methodist Church in Troy (35 State St.).  We'll be providing our Vegan Cornbread for Saturday night's dinner, personal 8 oz loaves of bread for lunches and Vegan Cinnamon Buns for breakfast.  Our CSB members Jen & Fritz Stafford are organizing this (sure to be very cool) event.  The Jam & Sing is "A weekend of jamming, singing, and celebrating the wonderful genres of traditional music together." Mark your calender and join the fun! http://2011jamsingthing.webs.com/

If you read our last blog post, you know our 5 Daily Breads are now available from the Heldeberg Market, Albany's Online Farmer's Market.  Be sure to get your orders in by Tuesday nights!  http://www.heldebergmarket.com/HeldebergMarket/All_Good_Bakers.html

Britin was pre-interviewed by Cory at Dick Gordon's "The Story" (a radio show broadcast on various NPR stations).  Mr. Gordon interviewed Shannon Hayes this week for his series on people who have made big changes in their lives.  I wrote on their Facebook page how Shannon's story & book ("Radical Homemakers") inspired us to live less of a mainstream lifestyle, there may or not be a follow-up interview - guess it depends on how interesting they find our story!  Listen to Shannon's fascinating interview here: http://thestory.org/archive/The_Story_010311_Full_Story.mp3/view.

And finally, our camera is working again!  Here are some recent photos of our breads & baked goods.

(More details about ingredients & such on our Facebook & web pages)

Hope you all are staying warm & well! As Shannon says in her interview, "Hope is a renewable resource."  We're already hoping for an early spring!

Your bakers,

Britin & Nick

All Good Joins Albany's Heldeberg Market!

Great news AGB Fans!  You now have a new source for your All Good Daily Bread, Albany's Online Farmer's Market, Heldeberg Market (www.heldebergmarket.com).  Starting tomorrow, you can order our 5 Daily Breads online, with delivery (Hearty Multigrain, Whole Wheat, Rustic Italian, Rye and Spelt).  If you're not ready to join our Community Supported Bakery, this is a great way to receive our breads on a more occasional basis.


From creator Sarah Gordon's website: "The Heldeberg Market is a venture that has stemmed from a lifetime of involvement in the agricultural industry, and deep beliefs in promoting local agriculture, as well as economic and environmental sustainability."  Sarah works with local farmers who follow organic or organic-practices guidelines and the Heldeberg Market offers a wide swath of farm products (grass-fed meats, free-range chicken & eggs, produce - yes even now, maple syrup, honey, wool, teas, even pet treats & gift items).  

You know we're all about supporting local farmers, so partnering with this market feels like a good match for us.  All Good is now number 13 in the Heldeberg Market's arsenal of local producers working everyday  (and sometimes nights) to bring more people in the Capital Region sustainable food.

It works like this: Selections go online Wednesday of each week (starting this week for AGB), place your order online at your convenience anytime before Tuesday night, have our bread and other fresh, delicious local food delivered to your home or office on Thursday!  There is a delivery/handling fee, but with the wide range of items offered from local farms, you can order all your fresh food at home...warm...on your sofa - think of it as saving gas and time at the store (not to mention all that layering).

We sure would appreciate it if you're able to share this information with your friends, family and coworkers who might like to give All Good a try.  Your support means a lot to us, and helps propel our goals aimed at benefiting our larger community forward!

Your bakers,
Britin & Nick

Happy New Year from All Good

We've been taking a much-needed break over the holidays and hope you've had at least some relaxing time to yourselves too.  Nick and I do everything ourselves (baking & delivering are really the last component, there's a lot of business planning, contact cultivating, marketing & creative effort that comes first). The last several, thankfully busy, months have left us needing a little recuperation and family time.  Time at home, often by the fire doing projects with our little family has been welcomed with gratefulness.  Not to say we haven't still been working!  We've got some exciting plans in store, for the far and immediate future, but we're not quite ready to share everything yet as they are still in various processes of development. 

A few tidbits we can let you in on:

Our most recent delivery of flour from Champlain Valley Milling included an organic NY-grown (and milled) all-purpose white/wheat! We'll start using it next week as soon as our supply of other AP runs out.  Strangely (we thought), Champlain Valley said they weren't able to share the name of the wheat farm with us.  We ordered the flour anyway and will soon be asking them why they aren't giving out that information.  We like to verify exactly where our ingredients are coming from and we look for supporting information that the farms in question follow organic, organic-practices, or certified naturally grown guidelines.  We'll keep you posted on developments.

We tried a new muffin this week, Spiced Apple Butter, made with our own CSB member Jen Stafford's homemade apple butter!  With a moist center of whole wheat flour, oatbran, apple cider, rapadura sugar, Siggi's yogurt, maple syrup & crunchy topping of strudel and finely chopped walnuts.  Since we only had one member who asked for muffins this week and I'm all about quality control, one was consumed warm, another after the insides had some time to set properly.  We've got some delicious muffins, but this one really exceeded my expectations.  Taking a moment in our cozy bakery to savor the fruits of our labor is an enjoyable task.

I was asked recently to share the story of how our Community Supported Bakery came about by Homegrown.org, Farm Aid's online community website.  I've written professionally in an administrative environment and here on our blog, but this is my first, real, published article!  Read more about it here: http://homegrown.org/blog/2010/12/all-good-bakers-a-community-supported-bakery/

Some of our fans know that we drive a bright yellow 1978 Volkswagen Bus (Daisy).  Maybe you've seen us around town?  She was acting up last Wednesday (our CSB delivery day, crisis!) and had to spend some time in our driveway.  Luckily, we have a friend who is a fellow bus owner with loads of spare parts and repair experience - he fixed a blown fuse in minutes!  We'd like to give a big shout out to Jules Herr for coming to All Good's rescue.  Give him a honk and a peace sign if you see his '74 Orange Westy driving by!  Some other friends, Megan & Tom offered us the use of their extra car during the crisis (it's got heat! Which Daisy lacks - so we're going to hold on to it for a little bit, that heat is a luxury).  We couldn't have completed our deliveries without these people willing to lend a helping hand.  Daisy's all fixed up and don't worry, she'll be back on the road when some of that rust-eroding salt clears up.

(That's Nick laying down on a much warmer day than today.)

More exciting opportunities are on our horizon!  The first being a pot-luck tonight where we're sure to be fed well in good company.  We hope you all have an equally peaceful, safe and satisfying New Year Celebration.

Britin (& Nick)

You can also Catch Up with All Good on Facebook

Living La Vida Local

We haven't always been so fortunate as to bake with primarily local, organic ingredients.  We began our adventures educating ourselves about the importance of buying local foods for our family when we started baking for the St. James market several years ago.  Our relationships with customers, other vendors, friends and community members have informed our choice to go Local First.  For a long time, we've wanted to incorporate our personal purchasing practices into the bakery, but the availability of steady cash flow to live up to our ideals has always been a concern.

Starting our Community Supported Bakery has helped solve the issue.  We currently have 58 members, most of whom research and understand where their food comes from.  We happily publish our suppliers.  We strive for organic, but also use ingredients that are produced under organic, certified naturally grown & fair trade practices.

Here are some local businesses we partner with: 

Champlain Valley Milling in Westport NY: Organic Flours, some Local/Certified Naturally Grown
Meadowbrook Farms in Clarksville, NY: rGBH-free Milk, Buttermilk, half & half, cream and we are very excited to begin receiving LOCAL BUTTER from them as well (as available).  There is a buttery in Conestoga that supplies Meadowbrook, we're learning more about them. As a back-up, we use the unsalted European butter from the Honest Weight or Organic Valley.
Adirondack Farm in Fonda, NY: Organic Maple Syrup
Once Again Nut Butters, Nunda, NY - Peanut Butter (fair trade)
Eggs come from a local farm (either Otter Hook or Raven's Roost Farms, both in New Baltimore, or Meadowbrook/others depending on availability).  Eggs will always be free-range and organic or produced under organic practices.  Otter Hook & Raven's Roost use organic practices and their chickens are totally free-range.  OH also has a wonderful CSA & RR spins wool into amazing creations and produces high-quality lamb.
WestSoy: Organic Unsweetened Soymilk
Wholesome Sweeteners: Organic, Fair Trade Sugar from Paraguay
Spices & Yeast - Mike's Spice, Honest Weight Food Coop

Community Supported Bakery Shares are still available on a pro-rated basis through April 27, beginning at only $6.00 per week.  Please visit our website for more information about shares and links to our suppliers!

Your bakers,

Britin & Nick

"End of the Market" Giveaway - CSB Membership

The Saturday Delmar Farmer's Market is ending for the season next Saturday, December 18.  It is with a mixture of sadness and relief that we approach our final 2 markets of the year.  The communal atmosphere with customers and vendors will be missed, the opportunity to rest welcomed.


We have been trading bread and baked goods all year for non-gmo/no spray vegetables (Farmers Jon & DJ), grass-fed beef and pork (JoAnn @ Tilldale Farms), organic free-range chicken (Cheryl @ Franzen's Scenic Acres) and eggs (Ross & Liz @ Raven's Roost Farms, Tilldale, Franzen's), even handmade soap (Herbal Bliss - incredible combinations!).  The relationships we and others have developed with these producer-only, local crafters of fine food and other agricultural & fair-trade products has strengthened our community and enriched our lives.  Everyone has worked really hard and the people of Albany & Delmar have been extremely supportive.   We'll sorely miss everyone over the winter and would like the mark the occasion so, 


We're holding an End of the Market Giveaway!

AT STAKE: A Single Membership in our Community Supported Bakery for the remainder of the season (worth over $100 for weekly, locally-sourced, primarily organic bread & baked goods through April 27).  


To enter: Please visit our table at the Delmar Farmer's Market this Saturday (Dec 12) or next (Dec 18), 9am-1pm Kenwood Ave, inside the Bethlehem Middle School cafeteria.  We'll have a short form to submit your contact information and we'll draw the winner the evening of December 18.  We'll contact the winner directly as well as announcing them on our blog/website/facebook/twitter.  Current shareholders can enter to win an additional share!


After December, we'll be focusing on the CSB and researching what we need to do to open our little retail space on Quail St.  You'll still be able to special order our breads and baked goods in (reasonable quantity) bulk or you can of course join our CSB!  Please visit our website for all the information: www.allgoodbakers.weebly.com.  We appreciate your support throughout the market season!


Your bakers,
Britin & Nick

The Muffin (Wo)Man

Since starting the CSB in November, Nick has had a lot on his plate.  He usually prepares all the bread, scones, croissants, bialys, and until recently, muffins for the CSB & the market.  I (Britin) take care of the business end of things and prepare vegan cinnamon buns, crispy brown rice energy treats, cakes and (not least) croutons.  To take a little pressure off of Nick and stretch my creativity a bit, I've recently taken over the muffins.

Although eating baked goods typically translates into consuming lots of calories, we bake with the healthiest, real ingredients we can find so everything still has substantial nutritional value (and tastes good).  Our family has become progressively more health conscience and we know many others who are looking to add a variety of healthy grains to their diets, so we're no longer using unbleached white flour in our muffins.  I've been having fun experimenting with hearty combinations, sometimes with a bit of indulgence thrown in.  I'm using whole grain flours and aiming to sweeten most with local organic maple syrup (from Adirondack Maple Farms).  Here's what we've come up with so far!

• Sunflower Millet - Made with whole wheat & spelt flours, organic raw millet, locally roasted  unsalted organic sunflower seeds, cinnamon (from Mike's Spice) and sweetened only with maple syrup, these muffins are surprisingly good and good for you.  The crunchy millet and sweet sunflower seeds (inside and on top) make for a nice mix of textures, the cinnamon adds balance to the overall flavor.
• Maple Sunrise - A meal unto itself, one of these will carry you from very early morning to a late lunch.  Made with spelt flour (and a bit of organic quick oats), locally grown organic carrots & apples, organic raisins, coconut and walnuts, cinnamon, sweetened with maple syrup.
• Banana Oat Nut Chip - This is a muffin that has been tried by many, but absent white flour and filled with wholesome ingredients, it becomes one you can feel good about offering to your kids.  We make them with whole wheat flour, organic oat bran and quick oats, organic bananas, walnuts, cinnamon and just a few vegan dark chocolate chips thrown in, sweetened with maple syrup. 

Although we can't get berries locally this time of year, they're a holiday favorite.  We get our organic berries from the Honest Weight.  Here are a couple of winter combinations we've created:

• Double Chocolate Raspberry Espresso - With fair trade cocoa and Green & Black's fair-trade organic Dark Chocolate Espresso Bar, our Raspberry Espresso muffin is a treat, but still good for you.  We make it with whole wheat flour (and a bit of spelt) and organic oat bran.

• White Chocolate Cranberry - The closest we'll get to a "white" muffin, this one is made with spelt flour and a tiny bit of whole wheat, fresh cranberries and white chocolate (Green & Black's), and is drizzled with vanilla buttercream icing.  With the berries cut in half and closely shaven chunks of white chocolate, the perfect tart and sweet combination is created.  I couldn't resist devouring two right away (for quality control purposes, of course).

All of our muffins are made with local organic (or organic-practices), free-range eggs and just this week we started baking with local rGBH-free butter, from Meadowbrook Farms!  The milk and buttermilk also come from Meadowbrook. All of our flours are locally-milled and organic (from Champlain Valley Mills). You can special order a batch (9 for $24) by emailing us at allgoodbakers@gmail.com.

We'll have more stories behind our recipes and updates on our plans coming soon.  Stay tuned.

Your bakers,
Britin & Nick