As of October 22, 2009 the Upper Crust Bakery is switching to Shepherd’s Grain flour for all of our products. Shepherd’s Grain is a locally grown and certified sustainable agriculture by the Food Alliance certification group. They use a no till method of planting where in crops are rotated throughout the growing season without tilling the soil in between plantings. This allows the earth to develop increased levels of carbon over time as well as positive microbes, fungus and animals. All of these benefits decrease the need for fertilizers and pesticides as well as creating an environment that increases the breakdown of those chemicals.
As well, Shepherd’s Grain does not sell their grain on the commodities market. Therefore when the world wheat crop experiences a bad year the price of our flour will remain more stable. We will also not contribute to situations that allow speculators to run the price of flour up around the world while people in developing nations starve. Since Shepherd’s Grain sells direct to the distributors and then to us, we can also track which farms produced the wheat and develop a relationship with those growers. This allows us to keep your money in Washington State, increasing local jobs and tax revenue that comes back to us.
We are really excited to participate in what we see as a positive move towards a more sustainable future for Washington State and everyone in it. Thanks for taking this step with us and we look forward to more steps in the future.
Mike Beard
Bakery Manager