February 2024 Newsletter
February 2nd, 2024
Last Chance to Register!
University of the District of Columbia | Tuesday, February 6th
Attention DC-Metro area bakers (home bakers and professionals alike!): There is still time to join Common Grain Alliance and CGA members John Derry (Meadow Bread), and Mark Woodward (serious home baker) for our next Baker Meet Up. This time, we’ll focus our discussion on Baking with Local Grains.
Visit our website for more details and to guarantee your ticket before this Tuesday!
Whether it's the earthy sweetness of freshly milled whole wheat flour or the subtle nuttiness of locally grown oats, baking with local grains brings a sense of terroir to loaves, muffins, and pastries. By sourcing grains grown nearby, we not only support local farmers and reduce our carbon footprint but also discover a depth of flavor and character that cannot be replicated with mass-produced ingredients.
Come ready to share how you like to use local grains in your baking! Bring:
A bread or baked item of your choice made with local grains. Local grains can be sourced from the CGA/FRESHFARM Mid-Atlantic Grain Stand at the Dupont, Mosaic, Downtown Silver Spring, and Arlington farmers markets, or the Shop Mid-Atlantic Grain page on CGA’s website.
A recipe card with information about your bake (consider including a formula or recipe, which grains are locally sourced) and contact information you would like to share (e.g., your Instagram handle). We will collect these cards at the end of the event and share them through the CGA Home Baker Google Group.
Registration costs $10 for CGA members and $20 for general admission. (Learn more about becoming a CGA member.)
Richmond, Virginia | Tuesday, February 20th
Join Common Grain Alliance, Reservoir Distillery, and Greater Richmond Grains for a skill sharing and networking event! Click HERE for more information, including a full event schedule, and to register. While registration is closed for the morning grain cleaning workshop, join us for lunch and the afternoon Grain to Glass panel and networking session. Forward this event to other farmers, distillers, and grain enthusiasts you think might be interested!
This is a unique opportunity to meet with farmers, grain buyers, distillers, maltsters, and other grain industry professionals to make new connections and deepen your understanding of grain processing, storage, and the symbiotic relationship between farmers and the craft beverage industry. Register now for a day of education and networking in the farming and craft beverage industry!
Event registration is free for Common Grain Alliance members. CGA Members should still register to attend the event. Visit this webpage for information about becoming a Common Grain Alliance member: Join Common Grain Alliance.
CGA at the Future Harvest and VABF Conferences
Members of the CGA team joined industry peers for professional development and networking at the Future Harvest Conference from Thursday, January 18th through Saturday, January 20th in College Park, MD and at the Virginia Association for Biological Farming (VABF) Small Farm Outreach Program (SFOP) Summit from Friday, January 19th through Sunday, January 21st in Roanoke, VA.
Vanessa Bolin, CGA’s ALDI Program Manager, attended the Future Harvest Conference and gathered with the program’s partners, including Future Harvest, the Million Acre Challenge, and Fields 4 Valor. Vanessa recruited more students for this year’s cohort of experienced veteran and BIPOC growers looking to level up their farming and leadership skills. Read more about the ALDI program and Common Grain Alliance’s contributions HERE. ALDI is still accepting applications for the 2024 cohort.
Pete Scott (Fields 4 Valor), Vanessa Bolin, Lisa Garfield (Million Acre Challenge), and Monica Newman (Future Harvest) at the 2024 Future Harvest Conference.
Meanwhile, Madelyn attended the VABF|SFOP Summit spread the word about CGA’s work. She participated in a small farmer legislative town hall, where she gave input to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and state legislators about ways Virginia can grow support for the regional grain economy. It was also a lovely opportunity to connect in person with some current CGA members.
CGA Member Tom Maxey of Gracious Day Grains and Madelyn Smith connect at the 2024 VABF|SFOP Summit
We hope to see you at the events CGA is hosting this month! Stay tuned for more opportunities to connect with us and the Mid-Atlantic grain value chain throughout our region throughout 2024.
CGA Featured on Shenandoah Valley Ever Green Radio Show
In January, CGA was featured in the Winter episode of Shenandoah Valley Ever Green on WMRA Public Radio, Harrisonburg, VA’s NPR member station. Sarah Golibart Gorman reported on the networks that feed the Shenandoah Valley, including CGA and CGA member Nico Melas Febres, head baker at Mill Song Bakery. Last fall, Sarah stopped by the Mid-Atlantic Grain Fair to chat with Madelyn and dropped in on the Mid-Atlantic Grain Conference’s wood-fired, naturally leavened bread class. If you didn’t catch the episode when it aired live on January 17th, you can still listen the episode on the WMRA website.
Grain Fact: A Rye Renaissance is Coming
While wheat is a much more common and popular crop to grow and eat today, rye was actually the grain of choice brought to the Americas by Dutch colonizers in the 17th century. Westward expansion, industrialization, and Prohibition led to rye’s downfall, but farmers, academics, and regional food system advocates have been preparing for a rye renaissance that is beginning to flourish.
Rye is a hearty crop with the ability to tolerate drought conditions, disease, cold weather, and marginal soils. Farmers are able to plant rye even later in the year and harvest it earlier in the next than they can wheat. This opens up more opportunities for diverse crop rotations that promote soil health and nitrogen fixation, contributing to environmental health and reducing the need for soil nutrient amendments in the next season.
Baking with rye flour or distilling spirits with rye contributes unique, warming, and spicy flavors to bread, baked goods, whiskey, and more, and allows bakers and distillers to directly support efforts by farmers to diversify their crop plan. Creating a consumer market for these experiences can help each of these types of small food businesses to grow and initiates a ripple effect with benefits to the environment. Rye Revival, a group of rye advocates in the Northeast and Midwest including June Russell (Glynwood Center for Regional Food & Farming) and Dr. Heather Darby (agronomist and soils specialist at the University of Vermont), is undertaking the research and education to do just that.
Read more about the modern rise of Rye and Rye Revival from FoodPrint.