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This week, we’re excited to share news about ongoing and upcoming partnerships and collaborations with allied organizations around the region and country. So grab a sweater and a hot beverage and embrace harvest season—and change in general—with us.
—Alyssa Hartman, AGC Executive Director
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As the growing season winds down, conference season revs up. An excellent kickoff for grain fans is Grains & Revolution on November 5th.
Organized by The Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation (CRAFT) at Pittsburgh, PA-based Chatham University, this virtual convening centers Black, Indigenous, and other farmers, chefs, bakers, and advocates of color working in grains.
“The overarching goal of CRAFT is to help create and transform a more equitable food system, so focusing on grains beyond the Western idea of bread fits our mission,” said Cassandra Malis, the Center's program director. Initially, CRAFT planned to partner with Washington State University’s THE BREAD LAB to host an in-person Grain Gathering over the summer, but when that event was canceled due to COVID-19, their momentum to create a convening didn’t stop. Instead, the concept shifted naturally to showcasing the diversity of people—and the diversity of grains—involved in emerging regional food systems.
The steering committee for the event—a group made up of people from across the country with ties to Chatham University and its food systems programming—conceptualized this idea together, and then worked within their individual networks to structure the day. Finding the right, and available, voices to fill the schedule meant more collaboration, including with AGC.
CRAFT is a good organizational friend of AGC, and one of the grain groups across the country that joined in the Neighbor Loaves project this past spring. AGC is excited to collaborate with CRAFT again and help sponsor this virtual conference. Sponsorship and fundraising allowed CRAFT to offer all panelists honoraria for their time, which is not common in food change conferences. With that barrier for inclusivity addressed, the conference steering committee and other grain-brainstormers dreamt up a schedule filled with grain innovators deserving of more time in the spotlight.
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Grains & Revolution, Thursday, Nov 5, features three panels:
- Community Grain Projects
- Conversations with Women of Color in Grains
- Seed Saving and Food Sovereignty
In between these discussions, bakers will present recorded demonstrations. For example, Bryan Ford, author of ‘New World Sourdough’, will show how he makes his mother’s tortillas, and AGC-member Rachel Bernier Green of Chicago-based ‘Laine’s Bake Shop will share her approach to cookies.
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“I’m in awe of the people who will be speaking,” Cassandra said.
Attendance is free, to ensure broad participation across socio-economic strata. Please join us if you can clear your deck the day of November 5 (even if only for an hour or two!) and shine the grain spotlight beyond European-style baking traditions, and onto a whole new world of possibilities.
Register now! Learn more and stay connected with CRAFT using the links below:
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Regenerative Farming Fellowship: Apply Today!
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AGC is excited to partner with Northeast Grainshed, Arizona State University, and Stone Barns Center to offer a virtual Regenerative Farming Fellowship beginning later this year.
Stone Barns Center launched the Fellowship in 2019 with the goal of supporting farmers in their transition to regenerative agricultural practices. The program’s peer cohort model fosters participants’ development as both practitioners and ambassadors of regenerative farming. This year’s cohort is geared toward farmers who seek a deeper understanding of Midwest and Northeast regional grain models; the two cohorts will learn together, in hopes of facilitating a transition to regenerative practices by farmers across both the Midwest and Northeast.
The Fellowship will bring together growers, processors, local and federal policy experts, and market specialists to help guide participants toward success. Fellows will enjoy content including:
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Network connections and access to new partnerships
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Trainings on federal and state policy
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Peer-to-peer exchange
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A needs assessment and one-on-one technical mentorship
Up to 10 Fellows will be selected for the 2020 cohort, and each will receive a $3,000 stipend. The application deadline is October 15, and the cohort of selected Fellows will be announced on November 13. The program will begin with Stone Barns Center's virtual Young Farmers and Cooks Conference December 8-10.
Questions? Email info@graincollaborative.com.
Learn more and apply here.
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October 19th Bread Meetup
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Our virtual Sourdough September Meetup on the 21st was such a nice gathering that we’ve decided to host a series of ongoing grainy (virtual) get-togethers. About 20 people from the Midwest and a few from beyond came to meet each other and talk about sourdough the week before last, including members of the Chicago and Huron Valley Bread Clubs.
Everyone is welcome to come to our next gathering on Monday, October 19th at 7 pm CT as we team up with the Maine Grain Alliance to belatedly celebrate World Bread Day (10/16), as Community Bake Day, a chance to salute the metaphors and realities of sharing bread. [Maine Grain Alliance is also crafting virtual visits with bakers that you can tune into through their social media and website this month.] In this spirit, we're inviting people to bake for friends and community, and offering a few recipes as possibilities: Bryan Ford's roti bread, Adrian Hale's Communal Bread, and Amy Halloran's cornbread. We'll also demonstrate pita baking in a couple of home scenarios so you can figure out the puffing part of the process.
ACG bread meetups are free and another way to dig into the connective powers of baking. Join us on the 19th!
Image: Beth Dooley's Kitchen
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AGC member Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI) produced this video, The Value of Small Grains, in partnership with the Uplands Watershed Group following a field day last summer in Wisconsin. Follow along as Assistant Policy Director Donale Richards takes viewers through the grain value chain and talks about why MFAI loves small grains. You’ll recognize some familiar faces along the way!
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“Who Makes Our Daily Bread?"
Join CHEW (Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin) and author/activist/AGC member and valued part of our communications team Amy Halloran (a.k.a. Flour Ambassador) for a look back at the shift from home baking to industrialized bread, and the recent interest in homemade sourdough, fresh milling, and small bread bakeries.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6:30pm Central
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AGC is excited to be part of two recently awarded grants supporting the development of regional grain systems:
A $2M, 3-year USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative grant awarded to Cornell University focuses on developing infrastructure to establish an organic industry for grains including bread wheat, naked barley and oats, rye, and ancient grains including emmer, spelt, and einkorn. The project’s objectives include developing regionally adapted and climate-resilient new grain varieties, developing best management practices for organic systems, assessing and increasing marketing opportunities, and connecting regional organic grain supply chains.
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Developing and Deploying a Perennial Grain Crop Enterprise to Improve Environmental Quality and Rural Prosperity is a $10M USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems grant awarded to University of Minnesota. Through building necessary support to transition more acreage across the U.S. into perennial agricultural systems, beginning with Kernza® grain, the project seeks to transform U.S. agricultural production.
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