![]() This excerpt from Wikipedia says it well: “From a human nutrition standpoint, it is ironic that wheat milling methods to produce white flour eliminate those portions of the wheat kernel (bran, germ, shorts, and red dog mill streams) that are richest in proteins, vitamins, lipids and minerals.” And thus was born the first processed food and the beginning of our industrial food system: where vast quantities of shelf-stable “food” are produced in large factories, many months and many miles from the point of consumption. The steel roller mill became so popular, so fast, that within 10 years nearly all stone mills in the western world had been replaced. The bugs and rodents knew this way before we did. Of course, we now know that the reason it keeps so well is that it has been stripped of vital nutrients. ![]() Pest problems were eliminated because pests didn’t want it. People rejoiced for modern progress.Īnd, beyond being cheap and wildly popular, this new type of flour shipped and stored better, allowing for a long distribution chain. Instead of just mashing it all together, one could separate the component parts, allowing the purest and finest of white flour to be easily produced at low cost, so every class of person in rapidly growing cities could now afford “fancy flour”. Compared to old stone methods, it was fast and efficient and gave fine control over the various parts of the kernel. That's because, in the 1870’s, the invention of the modern steel roller mill revolutionized grain milling. Our rallying cry is “Bake Like it’s 1869”. Industrial milling, white flour and the birth of the processed food industry Both have had a profound effect, yet most people have no idea. The first was in milling, the second in cultivation and farming. Since industrialization, everything has changed, and it has happened in two distinct “technology revolutions”. The way we grow it, the way we process it and the way we eat. So what’s changed? In fact, almost everything. Yet both these ancient grains have gluten. For instance, we get many people telling us how they can't eat gluten so they eat spelt or Kamut. Yet, it is also very clear that there is more to this than gluten. More and more people are going "gluten-free" to fix long-standing digestion issues and they feel better. And it’s very clear to us: modern wheat is making people sick. ![]() But in the last few generations, something’s gone wrong.Īt farmers' markets and natural food stores, we've talked to hundreds of people about wheat. This is how grains have been consumed over the millennia: stored in whole kernel form and milled fresh, full of life and nutrients. It is, in fact, the foundation of civilization: it cultivates easily, stores for years in kernel form, releasing its nutritional bounty when the seed is ground and prepared into fresh breads or porridges. Grain has been at the heart of humankind's diet for thousands of years. How an ancient food staple became toxic junk food, and what we can do about it (without going gluten-free)
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