Grain Gathering offers healthy slice of life

Bread was never sexier than during the eighth annual Grain Gathering at the Port of Skagit’s Bayview Industrial Park last week.

The popular three-day event, which each year has the world’s wheat and barley enthusiasts pay $550 to come to Washington State University’s Bread Lab, was keynoted on Thursday by Dr. Maria Trumpler, who teaches Women, Food and Culture and the History of Sexuality at Yale University.

She addressed her areas of expertise with a lively, informative and often humorous presentation on why modern women rarely bake bread at home.

“I teach about food and sex,” she quipped, speaking before a standing room only crowd at Skagit Valley Malting at The Port of Skagit airport. “You drew the short straw today. I’m talking about food, not sex. Maybe next year we’ll talk about why women don’t have sex at home anymore.”

The audience was not disappointed. Especially when in gradual fashion – somewhat akin to bread rising – Trumpler made the case for reviving the art of home baking.

She cited in order the nutritional, economic and intrinsic benefits of baking bread at home and the reverse – at least somewhat – of the century-long shift to store-bought loaves.

Trumpler stressed the relative low cost of baking bread at home, the health benefits of substituting home-baked wheat bread for junk food and the sense of accomplishment felt and the level of expertise demonstrated by home bakers.

Trumpler noted that in 1890, about 90 per cent of bread in America was baked at home. Within 40 years, 90 per cent of American bread was produced in factories.

When she first became aware of those statistics, Trumpler wondered what caused the change. Then came second thoughts.

“Why do I care?” she asked. It’s because: “I’m a feminist.”

Turns out, the history and nutritional value of home baking was too much for Trumpler to ignore.

Her studies have taken her back to ancient Egypt, where bread was so integral to daily life that artifacts related to baking were buried in pyramids for mummified men and women to use in the next life.

For those early Egyptians, 80 per cent of their daily caloric intake came from bread, according to Trumpler. It was so important that laborers were paid in wheat.

Fast forward to 1830s America. Baking then was a once-per-week, day-long venture, usually on Saturdays, so fresh bread could be enjoyed on the sabbath.

Trumbler’s theory is home baking began to wane as an unintended consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Flours and ovens changed, as did public expectations of bread, she said. White bread came to reflect affluence, and the sandwich evolved into a meal of its own – especially for student lunches.

Today, home baking is making a comeback. Whole grain breads, especially, enjoy a wide following.

Trumpler is doing her part, having assigned Yale students the task of making their own bread.

For most, the task has become a passion.

“They’re very creative,” Trumpler said. “It’s very personalized. They take ownership in their bread.”

In addition to the appearance by Trumpler, this year’s Grain Gathering drew participants from more than 20 states, nine colleges and seven nations. The last were primarily professional or “serious home bakers,” said Kim Binczewski, the lab’s managing director.

They chose from an array of over 35 lectures, cooking classes, field walks, tours, question-and-answer sessions and a book signing. On Friday they heard a few words before dinner from U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene.

On-site venues included the Skagit Valley College Brewing Academy, Skagit Valley Malting and The Bread Lab.

“The purpose,” said Dr. Stephen Jones, The Bread Lab’s director, “is to start conversations, not necessarily finish them.”

The program’s appeal is in its innovative approach to focusing on the use of grain in making a variety of food products. Because of that, it attracts millers, bakers, plant breeders, nutritionists, seed distributors, wheat flour advocates and retailers to this increasingly large Skagit Valley “gathering” each summer.

The shelf life of the Grain Gathering appears long, given its impressive star power. Keynoters included Jessamyn Rodriguez, who shared his concept of The United Nations of Bread, and Karin Bodin, whose topic was Sustainable Baking.

Discussions on “an affordable and accessible loaf of bread,” using food to empower and employ people, were a significant theme, Binczewski said.

Jones, a WSU professor and wheat breeder, said The Bread Lab is likewise looking forward to a sustainable future, its endowment having grown to exceed $1 million.

“What that means,” he said, “is The Bread Lab won’t go away. That’s the power of an endowment.”