We are excited to introduce one of our newest producers: Ground Up. Andrea and Christian Stanley and Ben Roesch came together in 2010 to create Ground Up and together and continue to play a role in developing and supporting a local grain economy. Andrea took some time to answer our “get to know you” questions. Take a look!
What makes your products unique?
The most unique aspect of our flour is that 100% of the grains we mill are grown by farmers in the Northeast. We know them all and we have been working with many of them for over 10 years now. Almost all of the flour used today in the US comes from farms thousands of miles away and are supporting an extractive economy, not a local, circular economy, which we believe is the building block of a sustainable food system.
Our New American Stone mill also makes our products unique. Stone mills allow for a slower, cooler breakdown of the grain starches. Additionally, we sift our flours in a way that allows bran and other nutrient-dense parts of the whole grain to be kept in the flour, while still getting white flour.
And finally, we mill fresh to order. All of our flour is made after an order is placed, so you can be sure you are getting the freshest flour possible.
What was the inspiration to start Ground Up Grains?
The Hungry Ghost in Northampton asked us if we would be willing to add a mill to our malting operation in the summer of 2018. They are our favorite local bakery and so we looked into it. We have been running Valley Malt since 2010, turning local grains into malt for breweries and distilleries. We figured milling was a great way to diversify our business and be another way we could provide opportunities for local farmers to grow more grains.
What is your favorite recipe to make with your grains?
We love pizza and made a pizza oven with our kids a few years back. I follow an NYT recipe for the dough. We love the ritual of getting the fire going in the oven and making the dough the day before.
Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you? Are there any partnerships you want to highlight?
There is a lot about our world that we’d like to see change for the next generations. To make a real impact, we need to commit to the change we want to see. For us, this means supporting a revival of grain growing in the Northeast. Grains are such an important part of the human diet and they really add so much value to soil, water, and farmland. The first 10 years of this work have been challenging at times but we are starting to see some amazing progress and are committed to another 20+ years of working to make our food system in Northeast more self-sustaining. In doing this, we support farms who are struggling to find profitable crops to grow and we are providing fresh, healthy food for our neighbors. The Northeast Grainshed is a new organization we helped to start last year, it is the most exciting partnership of all the aspects of this grain economy from the wheat and barley breeders to the bars, bakeries, and restaurants that serve their local neighborhoods. One fun project of the Northeast Grainshed was to create a grain calculator so anyone could determine the impact of their grain consumption. Did you know that one 5 pound bag of flour, supports 97 square feet of local farmland? That is equal to 1/2 of a parking spot, so let’s get baking!
How does working with Food Connects help your business and what are you excited about in this new partnership?
Having partners that will market and distribute our flour and help to tell our story and the story of a localized food system is critical for our success. We all have unique and specialized roles to play and if each of us can exceed at our roles, we can make the lasting changes in our food system we are all working toward.
Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?
The thought of not having a 10 year anniversary in October 2020 for Valley Malt is a difficult one to swallow. So much bold sweat and tears were shed to make it for 10 years and our success is something we badly wanted to celebrate over beers with all our partners from the growers to the brewers and distillers.
We take the COVID-19 pandemic and public health very seriously and so there are no events to look forward to at the moment. When appropriate we will have an in-person 11 or 12-year anniversary party and it will be epic, you can be sure.
We are reworking our retail packaging. Sustainable packaging is really important to us and so we are sticking with our 100% cotton flour bags (Made in the USA) but we are adding other elements to improve how they sit on a shelf. We are partnering with local craft makers to repurpose any cotton bags that customers want to return to make beautiful rugs, bags, and other fiber arts. These will all be for sale on our website. Stay tuned!
And… We just got our second mill and are in the process of moving to Holyoke!