By Lyndsay Cochrane, Project Coordinator, Flour to the People
Loaves disappeared first. Then flour. Empty shelves are a stark motif of the Covid-19 crisis. Overnight, lockdown caused a quadrupling of demand for local flour. Like other specialist mills and food businesses, the Scotland The Bread online shop was overwhelmed and had to close for a fortnight.
‘Flour to the People’ is a response to not only this increased consumer demand for quality flour, but also the food insecurity that afflicts many vulnerable people when ‘just-in-time’ supply chains are disrupted. Lockdown made evident the susceptibility of these systems, renewing many peoples appreciation of local food chains and inspiring communities to set up their own arrangements, such as the community fridges that MOO Food noted have sprung up across the Highlands in the Highland Good Food Podcast.
Our project aims to build on these interests by increasing our milling capacity and the availability of our nutrient-rich flour, as well as working alongside bakers and community groups to improve access to better bread and better flour for people living in areas where fresh, local flour is not always accessible.
The installation of a second Zentrofan cyclone mill will allow Scotland The Bread to significantly increase production of flour milled from traditional grain grown locally in Fife. This innovative mill turns whole grains into ultra-fine wholemeal flour, while preserving the higher-than-ordinary nutrient levels and great flavour of the specially chosen varieties.
We have joined up with Rosie Gray – founder and baker at Reviving Food bakery in Kincraig – to deliver a series of baking workshops across Scotland this autumn, teaching real bread-making skills and discussing the use of local flour. These will open up a future for participants that offers an alternative to purchasing the usual mass-produced supermarket offerings, and through relationships created with the host organisation we aim to explore opportunities for ensuring accessibility to our local and sustainable flour.
In addition, we will support the community bakeries already working hard to provide nutritious bread to people in their area, by working with them to increase the impact of their localised supply chains.
Through Flour to the People we aim to inspire and equip communities to create a local and sustainable flour and bread economy and support healthier eating and food resilience into the future.
Background
Scotland The Bread is a community benefit society and charity working with a wide range of people to establish a Scottish flour and bread supply that is healthy, equitable, locally controlled and sustainable. Our idea is simple – grow nutritious wheat and bake it properly close to home.