Consumer Demand for Regionally Sourced Artisan Bread and its Impact on the Upper Midwest Grain Value Chain

Commodities

Practices

Consumer Demand for Regionally Sourced Artisan Bread and its Impact on the Upper Midwest Grain Value Chain

 This proposal aims to establish a framework for increasing the consumption of artisan bread made with regional grains to strengthen the regional grain value chain as an alternative food system that yields environmental, social, and economic benefits. The project team, built on collaboration between the University of Minnesota and community partners at the Artisan Grain Collaborative (AGC), and Baker’s Field Flour and Bread, will consult our Advisory Committee (made up of two farmers and a baker) throughout the project to achieve the project aim. Small grains, such as oats, rye, and emmer wheat, have historical roots as a dietary staple in many cultures, and are promising newer venture to expand regionally sourced foods due to their agronomic viability and the growing milling infrastructure in the Upper Midwest. Increasing consumer demand for artisan bread is an effective way to develop market outlets, resulting in grain-chain wide impact. For example, restoring small independent mills, coupled with establishing additional community-based bakeries, revitalizes the surrounding local community, while incentivizing production of artisan grains. The project team will use a mixed methods approach pairing a comprehensive literature review with stakeholder surveys, focus groups, and dialogues to identify opportunities for growth. This project will culminate in an academic paper summarizing research findings alongside a suite of functional resources for the Upper Midwest grain value chain to increase demand for regionally sourced artisan bread. These resources will be shared at a community outreach event to generate dialogue amongst members of the value chain, continuing to iterate on learned challenges and opportunities for synergy. While aiding every stakeholder of the grain value chain, farmers will benefit directly from these resources through increased knowledge about the grain specification needs of millers and bakers, recommendations on how to educate end-users about their grain offerings, and the longer-term impacts of increased income due to greater consumer demand. We will evaluate the success of this project through grain stakeholder attendance at the outreach event, knowledge gain survey following the event, tracking of engagement with developed resources, and inclusion of tailored questions in the annual AGC member survey. Increasing consumer demand for artisan bread acts to strengthen farmer incomes, bolster rural communities, and increase ecological stewardship through increasing market outlets for expansion of small grain production in the Upper Midwest.

The overall project outcome is to strengthen connections from small grain farmers to eaters through regionally sourced artisan bread. Regarding learning outcomes, consumers will better understand the nutritional, ecological and economic benefits of consuming regionally sourced artisan bread, increasing their affinity for the regional food system and the communities that farmers, millers, and bakers are helping nourish. Millers, bakers, and farmers will better understand the barriers and challenges regarding regionally sourced artisan bread markets and grain chain coordination. They will better understand who their consumers and end-users are to further craft and tailor artisan bread and grain varieties to meet their preferences. They will also have greater knowledge regarding the strategies specific to their role in increasing artisan bread demand. Regarding action outcomes, farmers, millers, and bakers will use knowledge gained about their individual challenges and needs to better coordinate with one another, which will result in improved relationships between farmers, millers, and bakers. In the long term, although outside the scope of this project, due to increased demand from artisan bread sales, farmers will be able to plant more small grain acreage. Utilizing the project-informed resources, millers and bakers will be able to more effectively communicate with consumers about the nutritional, ecological, and economic benefits of artisan bread. Long-term, this will result in increased sales of artisan bread, strengthening the overall grain value chain.