7 years, 8 months ago

Wheat Nerds and Scientists Join Forces to Build a Better Bread

A few days ago, in the middle of a field, Dawn Woodward and Jeff Yankellow presented me with a whole-wheat croissant, the thought of which would normally make me retch. I was in Washington's fertile Skagit Valley at the Grain Gathering, a conclave of 250 of the best bakers, millers, grain scientists, and industry types from the United States, Canada, and five other countries. The Grain Gathering is an annual event spearheaded by Stephen Jones, a Washington State University researcher who runs the WSU-affiliated Bread Lab. He enjoys a reputation as one of the most quietly powerful voices in food, and he, along with the Bread Lab, want to break the stranglehold of commodity wheat—the stuff that makes the white flour that bakers typically use and you typically buy. Initially "right here" meant the Skagit Valley, but as the reputations of the Grain Gathering, the Bread Lab, and Jones himself grew, thousands of other right heres sprouted across the US and around the world.

Wired
Jones Grain

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