“Community Grains contracts with farmers to grow heritage wheat locally, fairly, and sustainably. With that grain, the company makes flour, breads, and pasta – preserving all of the germ and bran, where a majority of the nutrients reside, most of which are lost in the production of white flour” – Bittman and McCart

“‘The germ contains many nutrients and phytochemicals, so having a substantial part of it missing is serious,’ said Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard’s T.H. Chain School of Public Health in an email. ‘Like any reports, it will be important to reproduce these findings, but this seems quite straightforward and is likely to be correct.’ He added that the ‘priority should be making the product as healthy as possible by keeping the original proportions, and having an honest product.’ “- Bittman and McCart

These California Grain Geeks Want to Boost Your Immune System With True Whole Wheat

But that’s not necessarily what’s on your local supermarket shelf

Mark Bittman & Melissa McCart, Heated

Aug 24, 2020 · 10 min read

View the original article on Heated

Closeup of a round, dark brown loaf of bread on a wooden surface.
A loaf from The Mill, made by Josey Baker in San Francisco. Photos: Kate Robertson
The exterior of Oliveto in Oakland, California.

‘Why not eat something that has four times the amount of zinc as the same product made with only white flour?’

Upper left to right: The exterior of Boichik Bagels in Berkeley, California, opening week; Emily Winston, owner of Boichik Bagels. Lower left: Fritz Durst of Fritz Durst Farming and Tule Farms in the Sacramento Valley during a late July wheat harvest; lower right, Paul Muller, left, of Full Belly Farm in the Capay Valley, talking to Bob Klein of Community Grains.

To get the ‘whole wheat-looking’ flour on grocery shelves, some of the bran is added back in. But to call this ‘whole wheat’ is a joke.

Dr. David Killilea standing in a laboratory, in front of a desk with shelves with Bob’s Red Mill flour and testing equipment.

Dr. David Killilea, of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

‘Priority should be making the product as healthy as possible by keeping the original proportions, and having an honest product.’

A field of grains.
Grain from Fritz Durst’s fields.

This True Whole Wheat Changed How I Bake

Now it’s all I use for making bread

heated.medium.com

Upper left to right: The Mill, a collaborative bakery cafe in San Francisco by Josey Baker Bread and Four Barrel Coffee; right, Josey Baker inside The Mill; and lower center, sesame whole wheat on a shelf at The Mill.

These grains can be easier for home bakers to handle and let us cast off the idea that whole wheat bread is the heavy and dense loaf we associate with ‘70s-era hippie food.