When the price of wheat from the Midwest skyrocketed out of control in 2008, seven of the area’s finest bakers gathered around the communal table to break bread, literally and figuratively. The breaking of bread has always been a way to create bonds with others. In this case, the meeting resulted in the formation of the North Carolina Organic Bread Flour Project (NCOBFP), a groundbreaking effort combining the strength, ideas, and resources of our state’s farmers, bakers, and millers. Its mission is to provide a viable, sustainable economic market for organic hard and soft wheat and other small grains.

“Closing the distance between the farmer and baker is key,” says baker and NCOBFP coordinator Jennifer Lapidus. Traditional hard wheat varietals, which are used for bread, have never done well in North Carolina because of the high level of humidity, she explains. At least that was the case until recently.

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service (USDA/ARS) launched the Uniform Bread Wheat Trials to develop hard winter wheat varieties for production in the eastern United States, including North Carolina. The trials produced NuEast, a hard red winter wheat, and Appalachian white, a hard white winter wheat, that did well. When Jennifer heard about the trials, she contacted USDA/ARS and met plant pathologist and geneticist David Marshall lead researcher for the trials.

“Being able to purchase hard winter wheat locally was incredible news for local bakers,” Jennifer says. Price control was the obvious advantage along with the potential availability of locally sourced organic wheat for bakers and a viable, higher-yield rotation crop for farmers. Food security was another benefit.

Jennifer owned and operated Natural Bridge Bakery in Marshall for 14 years. With the potential opportunities ahead, and wanting to take a break from baking, she took a leap of faith infusing her energy into NCOBFP. She and the other bakers came together to open a local mill—the missing link in localizing the industry.

The mill, Carolina Ground, will open in the fall of this year. “It {the wheat} will be grown in Carolina and ground in Carolina,” she says with a smile. NCOBFP is also looking into networking with a local malt house, Riverbend Malt House, also scheduled to open in the fall. This adds another viable crop to the mix as long-term successive rotations are good for the farm.

NCOBFP is an initiative of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, and has been supported with funding from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco. Other partners in the project include NC State University’s North Carolina Organic Grain Project, the USDA/ARS, and North Carolina Department of Agriculture with funding from the Golden Leaf Foundation. There’s a lot of excitement about the potential of this project.

A perfect place to find out more about it and even get a taste of the new grains is the seventh annual Asheville Artisan Bread Bakers Festival April 2. This two-part event begins with a bread tasting and sale at the Greenlife Grocery from 10–2 P.M. followed by hands-on workshops and lectures from noon–6 P.M. The event will feature certified Master Bakers Didier Rosada of Uptown Bakers near Washington, DC, and Lionel Vatinet of La Farm Bakery in Cary. Jennifer will be giving a presentation about the NCOBFP and the new mill.

For more information about the NC Organic Bread Flour Project, visit ncobfp.blogspot.com. For details about the Asheville Artisan Bread Bakers Festival, visit ashevillebreadfestival.com or call 828.683.2902.