Local, freshly milled flour appeals to the informed consumer

Places that connect directly with wheat farmers and work with freshly milled flour are rare in Metro Vancouver, but CBC food columnist Gail Johnson is starting to see more of them.

Johnson noticed the increase in people wanting to know where their food comes from, and, just as with vegetables or beef, the curiosity applies to dry goods.

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She found that in order for producers to ensure all-purpose flour had a long shelf life, they removed portions of the grain that could lead to rancidity like the germ.

"But it's the germ that contains all sorts of nutrients, such as B-vitamins, anti-oxidants, and unsaturated fatty acids," Johnson told On The Coast host Gloria Macarenko.

She also discovered that Canadian commercial flour producers are allowed to use "bleaching, maturing or dough conditioning agents" in their production process, which can include chemicals you wouldn't expect to find in your baking staples.

"One of those agents is benzoyl peroxide, a chemical that was banned a few years ago from being used in flour in China. Another one is ammonium persulphate, which is used in some hair bleaches and lighteners. Others are acetone, peroxide and chlorine," she said.

A few local places aremilling fresh flour themselves, like Anita's Organic Mill based in Chilliwack, whichwasone of the first to do so, getting itsstart over 20 years ago.

Fully traceable product

Closer to the city is GRAIN based out of Marpole in Vancouver, run by Shira McDermott and Janna Bishop who describe their business as Canada's only fully traceable dry goods company.

"By that, I mean they actually print the names and locations of the farmers who produced each crop on all of their products," said Johnson.

A handful of restaurants use this fresh flour in their cooking and baking, including Campagnolo, Caf Medina, and Lift Breakfast Bakery in North Vancouver. GRAIN also does what it calls "Flour Shops", which are pop-up events where they sell their dry goods and bread.

Bad Dog, good bread

Another local business working with fresh flour is Bad Dog Bread in North Vancouver. It doesn't sell flour but bakeswith its own milled flour from organic wheat sourced from True Grain on Vancouver Island, Johnson said.

The artisan loaves of bread they produce take about 26 hours in total, as they are naturally leavened, a fermentation process that's used in traditional methods of bread making.

Johnson highlighted their fougasse, which is a flat, leaf-shaped bread that originated in France that comes in many different variations, with olives, oreganoand hot peppers. Cinnamon buns and chocolate-chip sea salt cookies are also on the mouth watering menu.

The bakery is at 1600 Mackay Road in North Vancouver and itsfresh goods can be found at local markets like Lonsdale Quay in the wintertime and Ambleside, Burnabyand others in the summer.

To hear the full interview with food columnist Gail Johnson listen to media below:

With files from On The Coast