About Micro Mills

by jade shamen

There is a project in Celista that is combining modern knowledge and machinery with heritage and ancient grains to help rebuild a sustainable and resilient food system.

Heritage grains are more drought resistant that modern varieties, grow without chemical inputs, give back to the soil, and are nutritionally superior.

They store better, and last but not least, taste better.

Shuswap Flour Mill is the central part of this, as it takes cleaned grain from local fields and produces flour that bakers can turn into bread and other food items.

The flour mill began operating in early April, and products will be available in June.

In May samples are being sent out and flour blends formulated.

The flour mill uses granite millstones, which do not heat up when making flour.

This keeps the nutrients intact.

Heritage grains produce high quality flours for making bread and other baked goods.

They fell out of common use when the industrial model of farming took over, as they did not

yield as much and were harder to process in the high speed large volume industrial system.

Heritage and ancient grains grow up to 1.7 meters tall, have large root systems,

and do not need chemicals to thrive. The deep large roots help

them withstand dry conditions and access more nutrients than modern grains.

The large amount of straw they produce helps improve the soil.

Modern wheat varieties usually stand about 60 to 120cm tall and will not grow without chemicals.

Red Fife is a wheat that originated in Ontario in 1840, and remains a favourite of Canadian Bakers.

Spelt is one of 4 ancient grains, and is considered the best tasting of all grains. It is lower in gluten and used sparingly in bread recipes. It is a hardy grain still very valuable today.

There used to be over 25,000 flour mills in North America, and that number has dropped to around 200.

Of those 200, just 20 of them produce 94% of all the flour.

Centralized and industrial food systems, using genetically altered and plants bred for high yield, is a fragile system highly dependant on chemical inputs. Because of the toxic effects on our environment and the people eating food produced this way, it is time to end the industrial farming experiment.

De-centralizing our food system would increase food security for everyone.

Consuming fresh, naturally grown, locally processed food, is a healthy, tasty, and environmentally responsible way to eat. Micro breweries have set an example of how small craft businesses can provide a unique and delicious product. We see our future food system made up of many small farms and food processing businesses delivering high quality, nutritious, foods.

Partnership Opportunity

We are looking for more local farmers to grow wheat for the Flour Mill—supplying our mill with community-grown grain and strengthening our regional food system.