Good bread requires good flour, and good flour begins with great grains. Since Red Hen’s beginnings, we’ve strived to support local and regional agriculture. Today, we’re very proud to say 99% of wheat and rye used at Red Hen is organically grown within 300 miles of the bakery. Over the years, we’ve built close relationships with these farmers and millers. It’s a privilege to be so connected to where our ingredients are grown and produced.
Moulin Des Cedres – Le Cedres, Quebec: We’ve been working closely with the Dewavrin family for over 15 years to bring their organic flour to Vermont. This unique family-run operation supplies us with all of our roller-milled flour. Unlike stone milling, roller milling allows the three components of wheat (bran, germ and starch) to be clearly separated in order to obtain white flour. This is essential for all of our light and fluffy favorites like baguettes, ciabatta, Waitsfield Common, and croissants. The fact that we’re able to source all of our white flour from a family-run organic farm that practices regenerative agriculture, owns their own roller mill, and is just a few hours drive from our Bakery is a unique privilege.
Farmer Ground Flour – Trumansburg New York: In the Finger Lakes region of New York, this “micro-mill” is a collaborative project between organic farmer Thor Oechsner and millers Greg Russo and Neal Johnston. The mill was established in 2009 by a few friends with a passion for local agriculture and organic grains. They supply us with weekly deliveries of fresh, stone-ground flour. All the grains are milled to order, giving them an incredible freshness and flavor. They share our passion for nurturing the grain growing industry in the North East and see the value in keeping this ancient farming practice close to home and close to the heart, saying, “We know our grain farmers. We see our beautiful grain in the fields near the mill. We smell our fresh flour and love how it covers our Carhartts.”
Red Hen Baking Co. & Elysian Fields – Vermont: The third mill is right here in our Middlesex bakery! We mill all our whole wheat in-house on a New American Stone Mill, made in Elmore, Vermont. The wheat is grown by organic farmer Joe Hescock at Elysian Fields in Shoreham, Vermont. In 2020, we purchased our own stone mill for the specific purpose of milling Joe’s grain. We now mill about 250lbs of local grains every day.
