Heritage Grain Weekend
Home-made bread has always been a special part of my family’s dining table. Bread provides a sense of comfort and safety that dates back to the early days of humanity. It has been a great way to foster camaraderie and community, it has fed troops and royalty as equals, and it is something we can all enjoy no matter race, colour, nation or religion. Isn’t that magical?
Over the years, bread evolved in a not-so-positive way, especially in North America. The need for convenience, availability and “quick-fixes” demanded a whiter and softer bread that could be mass-produced, would last longer on the shelves, and could taste consistently the same loaf after loaf. Industrialization made bread available and affordable, at the expense of our planet and health–depleting our soil and removing all craftsmanship, tradition and nutritional value.
In line with the Slow Food Movement that was just starting in Italy about three decades ago, a group of bakers started a movement in the states to bring back the attention to artisanal, rustic, nutritious bread with heritage grains and no additives. One of the invested bakers that joined the initiative along the way is Greg Wade, who grew up baking with his mother and grandmother, and now is making a difference from the ovens of Publican Quality Bread in Chicago.
We had the pleasure to have him in town for a few days as part of the Heritage Grain Weekend to teach us how to make nutritious loaves and help us keep our cultural bread-making traditions alive by passing along all his knowledge.
The 2019 Bread Camp, hosted at Growing Chefs Ontario, began with comprehensive background information about bread, heritage grains, milling, soil regeneration, healthy food choices, and sourdough baking. Greg pointed out the differences between sustainably farmed grains and commodity grains, including their nutritional content and unique outcomes. You would be amazed to know that gluten sensitivities can be avoided by eating the right kind of bread. Greg then jumped into farinographs, bread percentages and the chemistry-complex side of baking. The afternoon was full of hands-on learning, wood-fired pizza and sweet pastries.
On the second day, we had a life-changing tasting. The goal was to recognize the differences in flavour, consistency, aroma and density between wheat, oat and rye bread; while also noting the contrast between bread made with commodity grains versus sustainably-grown grains. Bread Camp ended with eye-opening facts about the grain industry in Canada and an action plan to gain back control of the food we eat. This last portion included grains' origins and comparisons, along with a set of questions to ask your grain farmer. For example: When was it planted and harvested, what is the vomitoxin level in the grains, how do they store the grains, and where and how do they mill them. It is very shocking to know everything that happens in the conventional grain industry, including the additives and processes that occur along the way that don't need to be disclosed in the labels. The more we learned, the more we realized there's a lot of information hidden at plain sight.
We all went back home with plenty of bread, a 30+ year-old sourdough starter, useful information about the grain industry, a great experience to remember, and the commitment to pass along all this knowledge to the generations to come.
More activities throughout the weekend
The kickstart to the weekend was the Rotational Grain Dinner, where local chefs and farmers partnered with culinary students to celebrate local grains and demonstrate how rotating crops can prevent our soils from depleting. Taking care of the soil is the only way to produce nutritious food and sustain communities. Some of the chefs involved were Kyle Fee from Fanshawe College and OEV Catering, Tim Drew from Los Lobos, Andrew Wolwowicz from Craft Farmacy, Angela Murphy from Grace Restaurant, Katherine Jones and Ryan from Growing Chefs Ontario, and Suman Ali Said from Weslodge. We also had the pleasure to hear from farmer Bob Kerr.
Other activities included heritage grains free samples at the Covent Garden Market, cooking classes with grains as the centre of the plate, kids activities, a panel discussions with industry leaders (including farmers, chefs, distillers, brewers, bakers and professors), a craft beer festival, and the Farmers’ Footprint documentary screening at the Tea Lounge. The documentary was followed by a discussion about the farmers’ footprint and how big companies profit from the grain market without having humans’ health in mind.
Our ancestors got it right when it comes to the food system, now it is in our hands to honour their legacy and keep their artistry alive. There was a long path into industrialization, and now we’re facing an even longer journey into shifting society’s mindset back to a sustainable way of living.
We’d like you to join us on this journey, so before you buy your next loaf of bread, pause for one minute and think about the decision you’re making and why. Are you buying bread at a grocery store in a plastic bag, or are you buying directly from a baker in a paper bag? There will be a big price/quality difference between the two, and I am fully aware that not everyone can afford quality in ready-made products. Just remember there’s always more than two options. You can also start making your own bread at home, all you need is three easy-to-find ingredients: grains turned into flour, water, salt. Have in mind that buying directly from the farmer is more cost-efficient than buying through the middle man, so you can also save some money by sourcing local grains and supporting our region’s agricultural economy.
Grains, pseudo-grains and legumes have been sustenance for many civilizations, especially when meat products were affordable only by small elitist groups or sourced for special celebrations. If you think about it, all cultures around the world have a grain-based component in every traditional meal.
I've been plant-based for almost a decade, and even though I feel great and my blood tests have been healthy all along, I still get the "where do you get your protein" question a lot. Besides fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, a big part of my nutrition comes from grains and legumes. I'm not talking about refined, super white, ready-in-5-minutes rice; I'm talking about brown rice, wheat kernels, corn, barley, oat groats, teff, millet and many other pseudo-grains.
Being plant-based is my choice, and it doesn't have to be yours if you don't want it to be. I'm not saying you have to remove items from your grocery list; I'm just saying that there's a wide range of ingredients that can be added to the menu to provide a richer dining experience and make everyone talk about it for days.
Don’t be sad if you missed the Heritage Grain Weekend this year, it will come back next year stronger than ever. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for the 2020 harvest + baking season!
More information:
-CK Table
-Regenerate 2019 Bread Camp
-Heritage Grain Weekend
-Paul’s Blog: Heritage Grains, what are they exactly?
Photoshoot challenges:
The schedule was pretty tight, so capturing one aspect of the event meant missing out on other activities happening simultaneously. I did my best to attend most of it, but of course, some things had to be left out. On a more personal note, I found it quite difficult to leave Bread Camp to cover the other activities in other locations. I was very interested in learning all the ins-and-outs of sourdough bread, so it made it hard to let go to fulfill my duties. Looks like I might have to attend as a guest next time to be part of the hands-on experience and not just look at it through the lens.