Bing AI image generator prompt = “water colour wheat stalk with dollar signs in the grain”
The price of flour went up again recently, in an overnight price hike from one of the major milling companies. So,
Do you know where your wheat comes from?
Do you know what the flour you buy in the supermarket has in it?
…how it’s been treated?
…what’s been removed from it?
…how that impacts its nutritional profile?
…Do you know the politics of wheat?
It’s a complex space, but one worth thinking about (there is wheat flour everywhere as any coeliac will tell you!). Stuff.co.nz got into this from the cost of transport angle recently. It makes for an interesting read if you are following the politics of food in your own backyard:
The climate and growing conditions in Australia are also a factor impacting the price of Australian wheat, because Australian quality is generally more consistent - not better, but consistency is a plus in milling; Consistent wheat means consistent in terms of how much gluten is in it (it’s protein count or ‘strength’), etc, and this consistency is key to the recipe the flour is used for to make our baked goods. It makes the Millers job easier when the Miller’s business is to supply huge numbers of bakers and other flour users who rely on fixed recipes and premixed baking production plans to achieve their own consistent product (which impacts how you staff for skill and food licensing because of nip labels and packaging etc… a whole list of minor to major impacts that become a string of business decisions).
2023 is a good year to start thinking about food miles, food security and the politics of food. If you haven’t already gotten curious, things are really only just heating up, so jump in!
#FlourToThePeople
#KnowYourFarmer
#KnowYourMiller
#KnowYourBaker