The Collaboration Behind Bringing Local, 100% Whole Grain Bread to Hudson Valley Schools

For over 40 years, we've called the Hudson Valley home, and for the past three years, we've had the privilege of partnering with Community Food Works in Kingston to bring fresh, nutritious bread to local school cafeterias.

Contributing to the health of our neighbors is one of our responsibilities as a local business. One concrete example of how we do this is by providing students with something as simple – and as essential – as long fermented, 100% whole grain bread. 

From Local Farms to the Lunch Line

Our partnership with Community Food Works starts long before the bread reaches a cafeteria tray. It begins with organic wheat grown and harvested on farms just miles from our bakery. That wheat travels to CFW's mill in Kingston, where it's crushed, sifted, and ground down into fresh, local flour.

From there, our bakery team takes over. Using that CFW-milled flour, we've developed a recipe made specifically with schools in mind: 100% whole wheat from our own sourdough starter, long-fermented, naturally sweetened with a touch of organic honey, and completely free of preservatives. It's a far cry from the standard cafeteria bread; most school sandwich bread is about half whole wheat, with the rest made up of processed white flour and limited fermentation. We wanted to provide students with something significantly more nutritious. 

For our founder, Nels, the work is also something of a homecoming for the region. "This was the grain basket of the country," he says of the Hudson Valley, reflecting on how far the local grain and milling movement has come — and how good it feels to be part of bringing it back.

Why It Matters

We believe kids should understand where their food comes from. That knowledge builds a lasting appreciation for local food systems and the role nutrition plays in their everyday lives — lessons that stick with them well beyond the lunch line.

Today, students can find our bread in school cafeterias across Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Albany, and Columbia counties. Seeing good food reach so many communities across the region is something we're incredibly proud to be a part of.

Looking Ahead

What started three years ago keeps building each school year, and we're already looking forward to what's next: More real food on cafeteria lunch trays. Better nutrition for our kids. Improved learning in our schools. Future forward where it really counts.