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Good point. One certainly needs to find a balance between the good, bad or better - since eastern dry lands grow this grain well, it behooves us to find the best, most healthful ways to eat that product. Farmers out here are actively seeking new strains of higher protein soft wheat... AND, they used to grow other types of grains, like rye and barley out, which don't command a large market share, so farmers do what is most profitable economically. If that soft white wheat is used "whole" rather than highly refined could we get a more healthful product line? What other grains could local consumers convince farmers to sell?

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Speaking of wheat, there are wheat farmers who have found ways to sell direct at markets - there are "green wheat" products that sell very well even at $6 per pound! In Pendleton a wheat farmer brought in whole and ground wheat kernels to sell as cereals, bulgar, and flour. They did demonstrations, and sampling, to a very happy crowd. And though they only sold a bushel, it sold for $50 for that bushel, and raised a lot of awareness about the possibiilities. We'd love to get another processing facility in eastern Oregon, for noodles, pastries and other products that use local soft, white winter wheat. A nascent coop group in Pendletong is actively seeking partners to create such products for sale in the local area.

Local foodshed out here includes the entire "inland NW' - or the Columbia Plateau (platter!).

Thanks. Karen Wagner

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