The Northeast Grainshed recently joined Neighbor Loaves, a program launched by the Artisan Grain Collaborative. Customers buy loaves that bakers donate to food pantries, and the effort invests in the entire supply chain from field to loaf. This initiative helps secure the local grain chain during the pandemic.
Joining is easy. The promotional, informational, and participation steps are already prepared.
Here’s how it works:
Consumers purchase Neighbor Loaves℠ online from participating bakeries.
Bakers source grain from Northeast farms and bake Neighbor Loaves, which contain at least 50% locally grown and ground flour.
Neighbor Loaves are distributed to community feeding organizations to support your neighbors in need.
Right now, farmers are planting grain, and they need to know they’ll have a place to sell this year’s crop. Local mills need to keep busy grinding last year’s grain, while bakers are facing reduced revenue in this new environment.
At the same time, emergency feeding organizations are in need of bread. Food banks and pantries often rely on donations from retailers, but since bread is flying off the shelves at food co-ops and grocery stores, there isn’t much to spare.
Neighbor Loaves creates links from cities and towns all the all the way back to Northeast fields. Neighbor Loaves are made with at least 50% local flour, paid for by donations that help bakers meet expenses, while investing in local grain farms and mills.
The concept is ours to shape as our imagination desires. Feel free to use this format to donate any grain product to people in need while supporting grain-based businesses. Maybe it’s neighbor pancake mix, or neighbor whiskey to support hand sanitizer production. Or tortillas, granola or breakfast bars. Let’s capture folks’ generosity and keep our critical grain supply chain primed, and ready to serve us once we come out of disaster.
Interested in joining Neighbor Loaves? Please get in touch for more information at northeastgrainshed@gmail.com