I've been buying my grits (or polenta, if you like) and some of my wheat flour from the 250 year-old Old Mill of Guilford near Greensboro, North Carolina for a while now. They're the real deal, shipping you a bill with your order on the premise (hope?) that you'll mail back a check. They don't do credit cards.
But surely the Missouri Ozarks, littered as it is with the fast-flowing streams necessary to turn the stones of a mill, still has a working operation. Turns out, not so much. And it's sad. After all, mills were a centerpiece of frontier life in Missouri. As families carted sacks of grain to the local mill for grinding, entire towns sprung up around them. They were part commerce, part social gathering place. Few remain; those that do are tourist sites rather than working mills.
Madeline Matson in Food in Missouri: A Cultural Stew says most Missouri mills had closed by the middle of the twentieth century. The closest thing I can find was the familiar Hodgson Mill company, which I didn't recognize as a Missouri operation. You can find their products all over town but they're a fully modernized outfit these days, located in Gainesville, Mo (down by West Plains).
The next project: a side-by-side tasting of Hodgson and N.C. grits, both sporting a little lard I've got in the fridge and maybe a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Wonderful, and miles away from that instant crap most of us have had.
6 comments:
Agreed that the lack of local, independant grains and milling is pretty sad. When I organized the Columbia Localvore Challenge last year, one of the most common feedbacks from participants was how shocked and disappointed they were to find that there were no local, independant sources of basic grains and flours.
With that said, at least two bakeries at the Columbia Farmers Market grind/mill their own flour (Annie's and Shepherdsfield). I've asked Annie before about whether she'd be willing to consider doing some extra milling for sale as flour. Her response was that she never thought there'd be a market for it, but would consider it if there was. I haven't gotten back to her on it yet, as this is the busy produce season for us, but you might ask those two places as well and start to generate a drumbeat of interest.
You can find contact info for those bakeries at the CFM website:
www.columbiafarmersmarket.org
I'd be interested to hear what response you get.
Good suggestion, Eric. I usually buy Uprise bread, but will check in with Annie's about doing this. Like you, I think they might be surprised by how many people would be interested in this. If nothing else, they'd have the market cornered.
Scott,
The biggest question is cost. There's a market for it all right, but at what price? What would they have to charge in order to make the time worthwhile, and will people be willing to pay that (almost certainly) high price? Food choices are increasingly being influenced by other factors, but economics are still at the root of the system.
Anyway, definately ask so that we keep demonstrating interest.
If you happen to have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, they make a great grain mill attachment that will do the job for you right in your own kitchen. I love mine!
College of the Ozarks (Hardwork U)in Point Lookout, MO (near Branson) has an operating mill. You can order from their website www.cofo.edu/products. Students at this college work for at least part of their tuition.
Perhaps we could get the Root Cellar to carry it, although it would be great if we could have Annie's or Shepardsfield to do it.
Anon, you are the man/woman. The link is actually http://www.cofo.edu/products.asp?page=10, but no matter. I'm already awaiting the delivery of two two-pound sacks each of wheat flour and grits. Got some pancake mix too.
I'll give it a shot and based on that may recommend it to Walker at the Root Cellar. He may not even know about this.
On the other hand, it ain't cheap. Their prices look to be about three times the NC operation I usually order from. Still, I'll give them a shot and thanks for the suggestion.
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