06/30/2026
I can remember when the bakery relied almost entirely on commodity wheat. There was a certain distance between our bread and its source. The protein, moisture, and falling numbers were always consistent. The harvest was something I paid attention to, but it felt far away. More of an economic event than an agricultural one.��That distance feels a little shorter now.
This yearâs harvest allows us to buy more than 35,000 pounds of wheat grown in our region. We know the fields where it was grown, the people who grew it, the moisture levels, and often the exact day it was harvested.
Cat Cox, a baker in Oklahoma whom I admire, once said, âBaking is an agricultural act.â That idea has stayed with me for years because it reminds us that before there is bread, there is agriculture. Baking is tied to the land and to the people who plant, tend, and harvest it.
In modern life, itâs easy to forget where our food comes from. I know for myself, I have consumed a lot without ever thinking about who grows it. As I type this, wheat farmers across the country are having a difficult harvest season. Some farms are experiencing losses of up to 20%. Whether we think about it or not, it affects all of us.
Abundance, in many ways, has kept us from being bothered by the realities of growing food. Though there are times when I would happily trade my anxiety for some good, ignorant bliss, I think we, as a bakery, are fortunate to be close enough to agriculture that a harvest can make us anxious. And maybe that anxiety is simply a form of connection we didnât realize we needed.
[Featuring photos from a couple of our friends and regional farm partners, Murray with DaySprings Farm in Georgia and Asher with Caney Fork Farms in Middle Tennessee.]
