The exploration led Webster to approach FDF, which had been milling heirloom grains from the Nelson Family Farm. The American White Wheat Producers Association was renamed Farmer Direct Foods in 2003 after installing the flour mill, but by 2021 Webster said the group was “fatigued” and had been investing only limited resources toward promoting its own branded product. Ultimately, the group was attracted to a financial transaction that offered upside if FDF is successful going forward.

Twenty-five pound bags of all-purpose flour are being filled at Farmer Ground Flour in Trumansburg, New York. Each bag marks the halfway point of the journey for grain grown in New York State to the plate of consumers in the Northeastern United States. The circuit for this grain from field to table could be as short as 15 miles, which is exactly as the owners intended.

Now, with the opening of Süti + Co., Uzarowski looks forward to bringing her love of sweets and experience in Scandinavian cooking and culture to 2031 16th St. The café will sell Danish shortbreads and Scandinavian artisan-made home goods and will feature Scandinavian folk music.

You probably haven’t heard much about municipal canning lately. For a small group of rural counties and nonprofit leaders, this once commonplace art holds a lot of promise for their regions’ farmers and small business owners. Our resident graphic journalist Nhatt Nichols has more in the comic below.

His Pane Vivo bakeries produce natural sourdough breads from an ancient wheat variety and have found a growing fan base among Parisians looking for a healthier alternative to the dominant white baguette bread. Some of his breads include Corsican herbs, others are studded with dried figs or dark chocolate.

This dedication to cultivating a truly local product would not have been possible without the assistance of organizations such as the Colorado Grain Chain, which has been a driving factor in their mission to reintroduce ancient and heritage grains specific to Colorado. When we asked Wroe how the partnership with the Colorado Grain Chain came about, Wroe mentioned, “The Colorado Grain Chain was a serendipitous discovery two years into our history. We didn’t know of the organization until after we started the distillery; had we known of them in advance, it would have saved us a lot of effort and time. Once we discovered the CGC, it was a natural fit — and the amount of knowledge and connections in the CGC has been invaluable.” After discussing the Colorado Grain Chain and its impact on Dry Land, it became apparent that the physical location of Dry Land plays a prominent role in its mission to showcase Colorado ingredients, artisans and farmers authentically.

“We're pretty transparent as a business about how important it is for us to source our ingredients locally. Most of the fruits and vegetables that we get that are incorporated into specialty breads and pastries are locally sourced from the market often,” she says. “All of the flour that we get is also locally sourced, and there's really a lot of heart and soul that goes into that kind of regional pride and wanting to support that local economy”