The local touch

Devon Brooks

Jun 05 |05:50

If you believe that some ancient agricultural products are among the healthiest, possibly because they’ve undergone less chemical manipulation, then spelt, a kind of wheat, might be for you.

It is definitely good for Fieldstone Granary, located a few minutes north of Armstrong.

Margaret Johnston has worked at the granary since last year. Asked what her position is Johnston smiles wryly. “We have no titles here,” she says. “But when we went to the bank they insisted that I put a title down on the paper. I told [the owners] we had to have a title.

We debated and finally I put down that I’m the general manager.”

The current owners are organic farmers Tony Vandantillaart and William Roell, who took it over in 2008, but before that, she says, “The granary started seven years ago as a coop.”

Johnston works there because it is organic and sustainable. “The premise for this business is that whole kernels are best for you. We’re about good food.”

Johnston describes a whole kernel of grain as a “small, perfect package of goodness.”

Certainly there is lots of evidence to support the benefits of eating whole grains. Commercial production of wheat products, which usually ends up in white flour, strips the grain of bran and germ along with the majority of fibre, minerals and vitamins. It does give a long shelf life to what’s left of the grain.

A customer wanders in during our interview, who is new to Fieldstone but definitely not new to the concept of eating whole grains. The customer claims that once you grind or crack the whole kernel the goodness leaves the grain very quickly. In only a few hours she claims, 80% of the goodness is gone.

Johnston cracks her oats every morning for her breakfast, convinced of the value of eating the grain soon after cracking or grinding, but has no idea how quickly cracked grain loses its peak nutritional value.

What is true is that whole grains with the hull still on, kept away from light or moisture, can last for years and still sprout when planted.

The customer’s passion shows that the belief in better eating is strong and growing like, well, spring grain. Says Johnston, “People are on different parts of the pathway of the road to good health.”

The company is committed to more than the health of its customers or its own bottom line. Johnston explains, “We’re trying to sell locally to keep this sustainable.”

That means the grains they sell, spelt (70% of sales), buckwheat, oats, Hard Red Spring wheat, common wheat, golden flax, speckled peas, green lentils, triticale kernels, barley kernels and Kamut are bought first from Okanagan farmers, then B.C. farmers, Alberta and finally Saskatchewan farmers. If they can’t find the product by then, they don’t stock it until they can find it again.

She gives an example. “The hard spring wheat locally is already exhausted. Northern B.C. is nearly exhausted; then we’ll go to the Prairie provinces.”

Fieldstone this year is probably a preferred buyer. Johnston notes, “I’m getting offers from farmers in Alberta because there is a downward pressure on grain prices.”

The Canadian Grain Commission notes that wheat prices are down from 30 to 40% from a year ago, while barley has fallen 24%. Those prices are not for organic crops, but there is no doubt that it price declines are also hitting organic farmers in the pocket book.

Selling is also something they prefer to do locally, but Johnston says one of her jobs has been to improve sales.

Last year Fieldstone had a booth at the Interior Provincial Exhibition. Prior to the show she says it was a big discussion whether they should invest in window bags (small bags with a clear window showing the whole kernel product).

Johnston convinced them of the benefits. She wanted them because people who don’t know about whole grains, or who want to try a new grain without a huge commitment could try it.

One customer says a 20 kg bag of wheat provides enough flour for her to make eight loaves a week for four months.

While the sales at the IPE were very encouraging it only runs five days a year. The granary sells product from three vendors in the north Okanagan and Shuswap, but most is sold to bakeries or other commercial outlets.

The granary sits on an old farm, and like the new found love of whole grains, Fieldstone is a blend of old buildings next to the most modern equipment. Slowly, as the business gains a solid financial footing, old buildings are being renovated.

It looks like a promising future for the local rebirth of an age-old business.

For more local Okanagan business stories please check out www.businessexaminer.ca.