Going Against the Grain

Wheat is one of the world's most consolidated commodities, but in Washington's Skagit Valley a community of farmers, plant breeders, millers, and bakers is quietly proving that grain can be grown, processed, and eaten another way. This is a story I wrote for the Mad Agriculture Journal about the region's grassroots grain revival, from WSU's Breadlab, which breeds nutritious, regionally adapted varieties, to Cairnspring Mills, a modern stone mill paying farmers profitable prices to grow them. What emerges is a kind of recipe for how any region might rebuild its own grain economy, with community and collaboration as the most essential ingredients.

Photo by Jane Cavagnero.