

From the moment I found good-tasting results from using organic flours, I wanted to know more about the farms that grew the grains for those flours. Until I saw and understood for myself what organic farming was, who the farmers were and how they grew better grain, I would feel unsettled. Part of my process as a baker would be missing, as if the loaf could never feel whole unless I was connected to every facet of making it. My miller, Marc Schwartz, arranged visits for me with his grain farmers. I was met by him and Prescott Bergh, his organic farm certifier, in Minneapolis. After hello came my first question: What does a certifier do? He told me that the flour I was using at Bread Alone came from grains grown in fields that were tracked and studied for at least three years before they could be certified organic.
Organic farmers are keenly aware that to get much from the soil, you must give much to it. It must be well-nourished in order to produce nourishing grains. During some seasons that often means letting a field rest or planting a cover crop (green manure), thereby rendering the field unprofitable for that season. Organic fields are fertilized by naturally occurring substancescomposted materials, aged animal manures, and green manures. The soil becomes moist, rich, and loose. The roots of the grain plant can then grow deep, and the plant structure is strong. When the grain is harvested and cleaned, it is stored without the use of fumigants, irradiation, or synthetic agents. The result is a grain with a wholesome full-bodied taste. Like a tomato or a carrot grown in your own garden, the grain has a flavor that is strong and clear.
Commercial fields, on the other hand, are treated with pesticides to fight bugs, herbicides to combat weeds, fungicides to inhibit the growth of fungi, and synthetic and chemical fertilizers. The young crop of grain is sprayed repeatedly throughout the growing season and sprayed again when it is harvested and stored.
Many of these chemicals were developed to help farmers produce large, foolproof crops, and for a long time they seemed to work. Beautiful vegetables and fruits abounded, filling supermarket shelves. However, the presence of chemicals does not end with the harvest. Many of the commercial chemicals do their work systemically; they enter the plants internal system through leaves or roots and remain there. The grain after harvest is cleaned, but it is never washed as one would scrub an apple, so the residue of synthetic chemicals often remains both inside and out. The effect of these residues on the body and on the planet is the subject of international concern and constant debate. I simply dont like ingesting them. But more to the point, I dont like the flat-tasting, characterless grain that comes from a commercially grown plant. The chemical procedures seem to rob the grain of its potential for a full and rich homegrown taste.
A baker I know who lives in Paris, and who has been baking for years, so loves to talk about flour, that he'll call me just to tell me about the tastes and qualities of the latest milling and the effects of flour on his breads. Just as the French people love to debate the quality of the new beaujolais each year, my baker friend savors, applauds, or pans his latest delivery of flour. That's the fun of using organic stone-ground flours. Like him, I would rather deal with the unexpected than settle for tasteless or even ordinary bread.
Another Case For Whole-Grain Organic Flour
Recently I was approached by a new miller who had some organic flour for sale. His was more processed than most of the flours I regularly usesome of the germ had been removed and all of the bran. Because the flour had a slighly higher protein content, however, I decided to give it a try.
We put it to use as soon as it was delivered and everything seemed fine. The levain developed very wellit had good cell structure and all the right smells. But the final bread had no flavor! It was flat and bland, very surprising and dissapointing.
I quickly returned to using 20 percent bran wheat flour. It's clear that the more wholesome the flour, the more well nourished and active the flavor-producing yeast cellsand the more vibrant and full flavored your final loaf of pain au levain.
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