Thank you for this newsletter, and for all of the letters you send, and take the time to write. Thank you especially, for the huge wealth of information that you shared in this letter; as well as your heart and soul and deep truthfulness and belief in your practice, as always. The facts you have share here will really inform my practice and the information I share, so I really appreciate this letter a lot. THANK YOU!
Sending so much love and luck and strength and energy with the next steps of your beautiful whole grain whole hearted bakery. Keep on being you and speaking your truth. Hen <3
Thank you, so much for your support and kind words, Hen. Your positive energy has always been able to uplift my spirit with ease. I am grateful for you. Thank you again. With love.
Tommy - Which small-scale millers are making white flour? It's not something I am aware of happening widely, at least not here in the US. If you mean they are *sifting* flour to various levels of extraction, that's not something I have a problem with, and it isn't the same as "making white flour". Stone-milled flours, even of relatively low extraction rates, are more nutritious than commodity white flours, and in any case, most small scale millers sell sifted flours of very high extraction rates.
Thank you very much for reading my newsletter, and for your comment.
Firstly, I should make clear I am not trying to attack most small scale millers. "white flour" is a term that sounds more extreme than "sifted", but let's call a spade a spade. There are flour companies in Canada that don't use any language other than "sifted", which really doesn't offer the consumer any information on what took place in the process. Is it T85, is it T55? And at what point would it be okay to call it white flour. With an extraction rate of 85%, there could only be a few percentile of germ and bran remaining. T55 and "00" are some of the best sellers of small scale organic mills here in Canada. Would it be okay to consider these white flour, considering almost half the grain is being lost to sifting?
For two years I worked for a company with "No white flour past this point" on their door, and I mixed bread and cookies with their small scale organic snow-white flour everyday. The mill itself is not a signifier of quality work or healthy food, it is the practice of the miller that dictates that. With the cost of food, and state of the climate, food producers have to do what we can to lower food costs, increase nutrient density, and lower food waste whenever possible. For me, as a baker, it starts with eating the whole grain.
I hope that offers some clarity. Excuse me for not wanting to name any companies outright.
Fair enough. I get that calling flour "sifted" with no further information could be seen as deceptive, especially if a miller is talking up the nutritional and agricultural benefits of their flour over commodity millers.
If you are a regular reader of my newsletter, then you probably already know that I have little tolerance for 'whole-grain extremism', ie the idea that the use of anything less than 100% unsifted flour is somehow immoral. Yes, there are very good reasons to incorporate more whole grain flours into our diets, but that doesn't mean that we should feel shameful (or be shamed by others) if we choose sifted flours some of the time (even white ones). That is an impossible demand to make on people, all the more so if we lump all sifted flours into one single category.
I 100% applaud your choice to use only unsifted flours in your products, and I imagine I would love them. But I have little patience for the idea that that is the *only* way someone can be a baker in this world and still hold their head high. (I'm not saying that *you* think it is the only way, mind you, but I find myself wondering, hence my replies here.)
I appreciate your comments, and where you are coming from. I have no interest in putting shame on the eater, excuse me I gave that impression. I want people to make educated decisions when it comes to what they are eating, and I take issue with the greenwashing complicating that process.
My "whole-grain extremism" is that I am a professional baker who has chosen to work exclusively with whole grain because of my values, which has made my economy more specific and challenging. I feel that responsibility (of a chef, baker, crop-purchaser), and it informs my decisions. I hope that my work can have a positive influence on the people around me. I don't have negative opinions of people and bakers who aren't interested in my style of baking. It is a vast practice, and I focus on my own niche.
I think we both agree that it is helpful to have a standardized-language to help inform consumers, and that it's not helpful when we lump something diverse all together. With that in mind, please remember not all whole grain bakers take issue with people who aren't just like us. It's a big space with room for everyone. But I will continue to call out the telling of stories that aren't backed up by the work, especially if those claims lessen the important work being done by the whole grain community. <3
Thank you for reading my newsletter and my comments. I truly appreciate your engagement, and respect your perspective. tommy@tommyswholegrain.com if you wanted to discuss further.
Dearest Tommy,
Thank you for this newsletter, and for all of the letters you send, and take the time to write. Thank you especially, for the huge wealth of information that you shared in this letter; as well as your heart and soul and deep truthfulness and belief in your practice, as always. The facts you have share here will really inform my practice and the information I share, so I really appreciate this letter a lot. THANK YOU!
Sending so much love and luck and strength and energy with the next steps of your beautiful whole grain whole hearted bakery. Keep on being you and speaking your truth. Hen <3
Thank you, so much for your support and kind words, Hen. Your positive energy has always been able to uplift my spirit with ease. I am grateful for you. Thank you again. With love.
Tommy - Which small-scale millers are making white flour? It's not something I am aware of happening widely, at least not here in the US. If you mean they are *sifting* flour to various levels of extraction, that's not something I have a problem with, and it isn't the same as "making white flour". Stone-milled flours, even of relatively low extraction rates, are more nutritious than commodity white flours, and in any case, most small scale millers sell sifted flours of very high extraction rates.
Hi Andrew,
Thank you very much for reading my newsletter, and for your comment.
Firstly, I should make clear I am not trying to attack most small scale millers. "white flour" is a term that sounds more extreme than "sifted", but let's call a spade a spade. There are flour companies in Canada that don't use any language other than "sifted", which really doesn't offer the consumer any information on what took place in the process. Is it T85, is it T55? And at what point would it be okay to call it white flour. With an extraction rate of 85%, there could only be a few percentile of germ and bran remaining. T55 and "00" are some of the best sellers of small scale organic mills here in Canada. Would it be okay to consider these white flour, considering almost half the grain is being lost to sifting?
For two years I worked for a company with "No white flour past this point" on their door, and I mixed bread and cookies with their small scale organic snow-white flour everyday. The mill itself is not a signifier of quality work or healthy food, it is the practice of the miller that dictates that. With the cost of food, and state of the climate, food producers have to do what we can to lower food costs, increase nutrient density, and lower food waste whenever possible. For me, as a baker, it starts with eating the whole grain.
I hope that offers some clarity. Excuse me for not wanting to name any companies outright.
Thank you again for your comment.
Fair enough. I get that calling flour "sifted" with no further information could be seen as deceptive, especially if a miller is talking up the nutritional and agricultural benefits of their flour over commodity millers.
If you are a regular reader of my newsletter, then you probably already know that I have little tolerance for 'whole-grain extremism', ie the idea that the use of anything less than 100% unsifted flour is somehow immoral. Yes, there are very good reasons to incorporate more whole grain flours into our diets, but that doesn't mean that we should feel shameful (or be shamed by others) if we choose sifted flours some of the time (even white ones). That is an impossible demand to make on people, all the more so if we lump all sifted flours into one single category.
I 100% applaud your choice to use only unsifted flours in your products, and I imagine I would love them. But I have little patience for the idea that that is the *only* way someone can be a baker in this world and still hold their head high. (I'm not saying that *you* think it is the only way, mind you, but I find myself wondering, hence my replies here.)
I appreciate your comments, and where you are coming from. I have no interest in putting shame on the eater, excuse me I gave that impression. I want people to make educated decisions when it comes to what they are eating, and I take issue with the greenwashing complicating that process.
My "whole-grain extremism" is that I am a professional baker who has chosen to work exclusively with whole grain because of my values, which has made my economy more specific and challenging. I feel that responsibility (of a chef, baker, crop-purchaser), and it informs my decisions. I hope that my work can have a positive influence on the people around me. I don't have negative opinions of people and bakers who aren't interested in my style of baking. It is a vast practice, and I focus on my own niche.
I think we both agree that it is helpful to have a standardized-language to help inform consumers, and that it's not helpful when we lump something diverse all together. With that in mind, please remember not all whole grain bakers take issue with people who aren't just like us. It's a big space with room for everyone. But I will continue to call out the telling of stories that aren't backed up by the work, especially if those claims lessen the important work being done by the whole grain community. <3
Thank you for reading my newsletter and my comments. I truly appreciate your engagement, and respect your perspective. tommy@tommyswholegrain.com if you wanted to discuss further.
This is a great post Tommy! So well said!
Thank you, Carole!