Valley Sources for Organic Flours, Bread and Unsweetened Baked Products

News from the Valley (Aug. 2000) noted that three area businesses produce the majority of organic flours and baking in the region:

Mountain Path in Mountain is the only miller of certified organic flour providing 17 different types of organic flour in eastern Ontario and west of Montreal. In operation since 1982, it has seen its production rise faster than leavening bread! Owned and operated by Robert Hogg, Mountain Path does not have its own retail operation but relies on the majority of health food stores and co-operatives throughout Eastern Ontario. A small operation in relation to producers of conventional flour (about $140,000 in sales for 1999) Mountain Path enjoys an excellent reputation for many kinds of flour as well as some cereals, brans, beans, nuts dried fruits and pasta. Hogg buys locally grown product as much as possible. His prices have not changed in 10 years; fluctuations in the price of grain throughout the season are absorbed.

Mountain Path (Organic Products) tel.: (613) 989-2973

***

Helping Hands Bakery is barely one year old and does not sell itself as a pure organic baker. They bake pies, cakes, muffins, mini loaves, squares and cookies made from certified flour, oats and other products from Mountain Path and they buy uncertified organic eggs. Erica Parsons started the company because she was unable to find baked goods she could safely eat as a diabetic. None of her products contain sugar, and are sweetened by fruit that is not organic. Her products are baked and then frozen for distribution around Ottawa and the Valley every Thursday.

Helping Hands Bakery, Kemptville, Ontario (helpinghandsbakery@magma.ca) tel.: (613) 258-1767

Available at:

Louise's Belgian Chocolates, 194 Robertson Road, Bell's Corners
Nature's Food Basket, 150 Robertson Road, Nepean
Rainbow Foods, 1487 Richmond Road, Ottawa
Evans Meat Shop, 417 Rideau St., Kemptville
Haedae Farms, 230 St. Lawrence St., Merrickville (613) 269-4330
New Horizon, 163 Ormond St., Brockville
Valley Produce & Deli, 561 St. Lawrence St., Winchester
Warring's Independent, 25 Ferrara Drive, Smiths Falls
Foodsmiths, 33 Wilson St., Perth

***

Little Stream Bakery near Perth is the only storefront business of the three; they do have their distribution channels but owner Graham Beck welcomes customers to his Glen Tay Bakery. Concentrating mainly on certified organic bread, Little Stream is grown at a healthy 30% annually. They have been in business for 7 years, and employ 17 people. The flour is milled on the premises and the grain they purchase is certified organic. They use a sourdough mixture that rises naturally in a controlled environment and the bread is baked in a wood-fired brick oven, which gives it its unique flavour. The product is then frozen and shipped out to distributors across the province.

Little Stream Bakery, 667 Glen Tay Road, Perth (just off Christie Lake Rd.), (www.littlestream.com) tel.: (613) 267-9712

Available at:

Nature's Basics, 1 Hobin Street, Stittsville Rainbow Foods, 1487 Richmond Road, Ottawa
Trillium Bakery, Wellington Street, Ottawa
Almonte Natural Foods, 24 Mill St., Almonte
Foodsmiths, 33 Wilson St., Perth
The Granary, 107 Bridge St., Carleton Place
Haedae Farms, 230 St. Lawrence St., Merrickville
Nature's Way, 2676 Hwy. 43, Kemptville
New Horizon, 163 Ormond St., Brockville

Thanks to Gabrielle Bristow for submitting this item.

Don't Panic:
10 Reasons You Should Go Organic

1. Locally grown organic produce is clean, fresh, nutritious and it helps support Canadian family farms and the rural economy.
2. Organic foods are grown without the use of pesticides or other toxins in field, stable or transportation. Allowable pesticide residues are calculated for adults, not children; protect children with organically grown food. Pesticides have also been implicated in many cancers, infertility and the decline of bird and fish populations. Pesticides kill beneficial insects as well as harmful ones.
3. Many chronic diseases and health "conditions" can be attributed to the ingestion of pesticides.
4. Rigid specific organic standards are applied from planting to purchase of organic foods. Standards are monitored and inspected for three years before certification is granted.
5. Animals are raised without added hormones, unnatural food and routine antibiotics. They must not be kept in overcrowded conditions and must be given appropriate free-range space in contrast to unnatural conglomerate factory farming where waste disposal is a mega-problem.
6. Soil fertility is sustained by the incorporation of organic matter and composted vegetable and animal waste, green manure and appropriate mineral amendments. The all-important prevention of topsoil erosion is achieved with cover crops and cultural practices.
7. Organic family farms are designed to complement the biodensity of a region and not overwhelm the environment with monocultures and industrial (large) farms.
8. By avoiding pesticides, poisons and overstocked farms, we can rely on safe food, free from contaminated water supplies.
9. Growing and saving organically grown seeds as well as collecting heirloom seeds is most important. If genetically engineered (altered) seeds are not going to be so labeled, we will not know the difference when buying commercially. It is vital to protect our genetic resources.
10. Many tests have shown that organically grown foods taste better than those grown on depleted soils, with artificially induced growth through the use of chemical fertilizers. Foods grown organically in rich, living soils are more likely to contain higher levels of the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need.

Prepared by Nancy Rawson, Nutritional Consultant, Canadian Reiki Healing Centre, Carp

Reproduced in HTML from Eco Sense Fall 2000 according to stated copyright.

March 24, 2003 - Lg

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