MISSION
On creating “Good Food”
GOOD FOOD
Connecting the food we eat with the story of where it comes from.
Our three prong mission is to create “Good Food,” to regenerate the land and to reinvigorate our rural economy by shortening the distance between the farmer, the miller and the baker.
Regenerative is the new buzzword, but what does it actually mean to us?
We regenerate through nutritious food produced in a way that helps our health, helps our farmers, helps our rural communities and helps our environment.
Slow food for a fast world
Ancient History
and not so Ancient History
Roundabout the very early 2000’s as we began our search for local ingredients for the bakery, we quite easily located the basics that Vermont so beautifully offers; maple syrup, apples and incredible Artisan cheeses, but we searched high and low for local flour. Couldn’t really find it at first.
We learned of a series of meetings that were being offered for dairy farmers by UVM Extension. Well, we went, and there we were in a crowded room of 50 salt of the earth multi-generational farmers and two bakers; only two bakers.
Long story short and as a direct result of these early meetings, we became founding board members of a fledging organization; The Northern Grain Growers Association (NGGA), made up of farmers and bakers. No millers were in the room, because they didn’t really exist yet locally. Never ending thanks to that first Board of Directors made up of:
Brent Beidler, Beidler Family Farm
Heather Darby, UVM Extension
Randy George, Red Hen Bakery
Ben Gleason, Gleason Grains
Jeffrey Hamelman, King Arthur Flour
Jack Lazor, Butterworks Farms
Ken Van Hazinga, Tio Grain Farm
and us,
Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich
Naga Bakehouse
And so began our education! Farmers educating bakers; bakers educating farmers; all supported by UVM. We spoke several different languages from crop rotations, soil tillage, planting depth and vomitoxins; to very different conversations about protein levels, hydration rates, and baking formulas. And then there was the UVM extension point of view talking about seed trials and test results! Quite an education for all!
