How to avoid unnecessary chemicals in your baking.
Its becoming increasingly clear that intensive agriculture practices are not only destroying the soil but having hugely negative effects on human health* See links to some recent research below.
But there are solutions a great one which is accessible to all of us is the pioneering work of Wildfarmed.
A selection of wildfarmed flours - the first big noticeable difference was a amazing increase in taste.
We have made the decision to switch the purchase of all our flours to wildfarmed products. So for bread, pastries, baking and pizzas we have been able to source the ideal blend of wheats grown without chemicals. As well as giving our guests the opportunity to enjoy better tasting food it is now demonstrably more nutritious and much better for long term human and soil health.
Currently the movement encompasses 35 growers in the UK and 7 in France but as UK farmers start to question the bleak future of growing with artificial nitrogen-based fertilisers and numerous chemical applications of herbicides and pesticides there is promise for many more to come on board.
The story of how this regenerative system started is well documented on their website. For people interested in growing its fasinating to see the various techniques being used which at first seem to go against all conventional practice. So think rich cover crops, limited ploughing, poly-cropping and integrating animals wherever possible. They summarise this well:
“Wildfarmed flour fixes the planet, because we farm differently. By putting soil health first, and paying farmers properly, we are able to grow tasty, highly nutritious food, in a way that heals the planet. All of our products are grown without the use of ‘cides, in a system that prioritises soil health, increasing soil biodiversity, drawing carbon from the atmosphere and producing nutrient dense food. Our pasture cropping method originally developed by Andy and now being adapted and refined by the growers in our community, allows arable crops to be grown alongside perennial plants. If we can get grasses, trees, perennial plants of all kinds back into the “fields of single crops” that cover two thirds of the country, we can make agriculture a solution to our biodiversity and climate crises rather than a contributor.
That’s our mission.”
We look forward to posting pictures of our baking results using these super new flours for now heres one we made earlier.
PJ taste sourdough bread made with our quick over night technique
Links to more information on current thinking about the effects of modern industrial farming:
Podcasts from the Sustainable Food Trust
In conversation with Zach Bush - links bewteen the human micobiome and the soil microbiome.
Tim Spector on microbiomes, human and soil health
Dr Michael Antoniou on gene editing and pesticides
Andy Cato on changing direction
A look at the frightening statistic that people born after 1990 are more likely to develop cancer before they’re 50 than people born before 1970 - is Ultra Processed Behind This.