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Amy Halloran's avatar

Great to read this conversation, and I'm sorry I didn't chime in sooner. I love that you've brought this topic up, Andrew. Just love it. This is why newsletters are so great -- people can write what they think without an editor worrying about commercial impacts of words!

One thing I want to add to the idea of local flour is that regional flour is really what we're talking about, and that there are so few mills that often regional involves shipping. And that is okay by me. Until we can get more critical infrastructure -- stone flour mills -- in communities, we have limited choices. Rebuilding regional mills and malthouses is really expensive and risky. Thanks for discussing this flour, and directing more attention to the matter.

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Emma's avatar

I'm fairly new to baking, but I'm in Western North Carolina, and we're lucky to have two great local spots (I think--I don't know a ton about either but have used flours from both, and they seem like good people making great stuff!): www.farmandsparrow.com/ and carolinaground.com

I'm all on board with ethical flours, but 80% of the time, I just end up using King Arthur. The cost makes it difficult for me to make anything "fancy" (and honestly, I think you're justified in 'fancy' there, Andrew) my mainstay flours, so I end up using it for the 5% rye, or the pastry flour I use rarely, which is a lot easier on my wallet (and assuages my conscience a little bit). And as a new baker, figuring out how to account for differences in hydration, gluten development, whatever, is too long of a learning curve to make a bunch of not-great bread with flour I just can't afford.

Using mass-produced commercial flour is like a lot of other convenience foods: they're hard to quit because they're cheap, and they work. This and Alicia's recent newsletter has inspired me to try and get the good store more often, since honestly, I can usually afford it in smaller quantities, but also, there's no shame in using what's affordable and what works if it's what's within your skills & means.

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