{"id":92678,"date":"2020-11-03T11:38:57","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T17:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=92678"},"modified":"2020-11-19T16:23:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T22:23:05","slug":"neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Carlyn Kranking<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

On March 16, Hewn bakery in Evanston had 65 wholesale customers. The next day, it had only four.<\/p>\n

As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, shutting down businesses and driving customers indoors, the Midwest\u2019s grain supply chain strained under the pressure. At Hewn, the resulting loss of wholesale customers, or other businesses that buy their products, forced the store to close its doors temporarily, move its entire business online and lay off some workers.<\/p>\n

Soon afterward, Hewn joined a program called Neighbor Loaves<\/a>. In this initiative, customers purchase loaves made from at least 50% locally grown and milled grain. Then, the bakeries donate these loaves to nearby food pantries. By securing relationships between farmers, millers, bakers and food pantries, the program protects local businesses and promotes food security.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the early months, it was really a lifeline,\u201d said Ellen King, co-owner of Hewn. \u201cWe brought back all of our staff and hired some new positions. Without the Neighbor Loaves, it would have been a lot more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alyssa Hartman, executive director of the Artisan Grain Collaborative<\/a>, started the Neighbor Loaves program in March. Now, over 20 bakeries in the region are participating, and they donated more than 15,000 loaves between March and August.<\/p>\n

“This has allowed food pantries to have a larger quantity of fresh, locally produced bread available for patrons every week,” Hartman said.<\/p>\n

Farmers & Millers<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt's satisfying to me, as a farmer, to know where my grain is going and that people are actually fed by the grain that we raise.\u201d<\/span>
\n– Harold Wilken, owner of Janie’s Farm<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were coming to understand that this short supply chain like ours came through when the global supply chain was failing. I think that just kind of highlights the strength and the resilience of local food systems.\u201d<\/span>
\n– Jill Brockman-Cummings, mill manager and head miller at Janie’s Mill<\/em><\/p>\n

At Janie\u2019s Mill in Ashkum, Illinois, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the unexpected \u2014 an onslaught of online orders, around-the-clock milling and new hires. The flour shortage in the spring caused customers nationwide to look for a place that still had flour in stock, and Janie\u2019s Mill did.<\/p>\n

The mill is supplied by Janie\u2019s Farm, located just 3 miles down the road, where owner Harold Wilken works with his son and nephew. A short supply chain like this isn\u2019t reliant on any middleman that might have been affected by the pandemic, so the farm and mill could keep up with the online orders.<\/p>\n

Mill production ramped up from 100 pounds of product daily in March to sometimes 6,000 or 7,000 pounds of product in a day as online orders surged.<\/p>\n

\u201cBread kind of represents more than just food. It brings comfort to people, especially in uncertain times,\u201d said Jill Brockman-Cummings, mill manager and head miller at Janie\u2019s Mill. \u201cI think that’s one reason that so many people were baking during those times, in those months when there wasn’t flour. It was because people associate bread with comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also one reason why Brockman-Cummings was proud to have Janie\u2019s Mill participate in the Neighbor Loaves program. She described the initiative as a \u201cwin-win.\u201d Janie\u2019s Mill partnered with bakeries, and community members gained access to fresh food.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlour\u2019s one thing, but actually getting a ready-baked bread in your home is pretty powerful and helpful,\u201d Brockman-Cummings said.<\/p>\n

\"Ross
Ross Wilken seeds rye on Janie\u2019s Farm in Ashkum, Illinois. (Harold Wilken)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bakers<\/h2>\n

\u201cA bakery is very visual, you shop with your eyes. You come in and you smell. We had to move all of that so that people are ordering stuff online instead of coming into the bakery and seeing what we\u2019re making every day.\u201d<\/span>
\n– Ellen King, co-owner of Hewn<\/em><\/p>\n

Bakeries scrambled to adapt as the pandemic slashed their wholesale profits and forced them to close. Hewn designed an online ordering platform and had customers place web orders 48 hours in advance of pickup. Floriole Cafe & Bakery in Chicago began selling frozen croissants and cookie dough for customers to take and bake at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen little by little, just like everyone else in the pandemic, we started to realize you can’t do this forever. And there’s people that need to work,\u201d said Sandra Holl, founder and owner of Floriole.<\/p>\n

The Chicago bakery brought back a limited number of staff to allow for social distancing and joined the Neighbor Loaves program. Their loaves are donated to The Friendship Center, which picks up the donations directly from the cafe. The bakery has donated 423 loaves and just sent 54 loaves on Oct. 13.<\/p>\n

King estimates Hewn has donated over 3,600 loaves to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies that otherwise wouldn’t have come by our bread, they’re getting access to locally grown stone-milled grain that’s really nutritious,\u201d King said. \u201cThat’s kind of exciting for us that we’re feeding a lot more families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Loaves
Neighbor Loaves donations protect the local grain supply chain and promote food security. (AGC Instagram via @doughpcreations)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Food Distribution<\/h2>\n

\u201cYou make sandwiches with bread, you make toast in the morning for breakfast, or you make French toast \u2014 so bread is really one of those things that we tend to miss when we don’t have it.\u201d<\/span>
\n– Faith Albano, operations manager at Hillside Food Pantry<\/em><\/p>\n

Hillside Food Pantry in Evanston tries to give its patrons a loaf of bread in every bag. As COVID-19 closed other food pantries, Hillside remained open, serving anyone who drove up regardless of where they lived. Despite growing demand for food, the pantry never turned anyone away.<\/p>\n

But they did experience a shortage of bread donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood resources began to dry up,\u201d said Faith Albano, operations manager at Hillside Food Pantry. \u201cAnd one of the things that we really needed was bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hewn\u2019s Neighbor Loaves donations go to Hillside. Albano said the program provides opportunities for customers of bakeries to help feed others in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be wonderful if other artisan bakeries would do the same thing and try and work with their local food pantry to supply the needs of that particular pantry,\u201d Albano said.<\/p>\n

\"Faith
Faith Albano unloads Neighbor Loaves donations from Hewn in front of Hillside Food Pantry in Evanston. (Carlyn Kranking\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carlyn Kranking is a health, environment and science reporter at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at @Carlyn_Kranking<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carlyn Kranking Medill Reports On March 16, Hewn bakery in Evanston had 65 wholesale customers. The next day, it had only four. As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, shutting down businesses and driving customers indoors, the Midwest\u2019s grain supply chain strained under the pressure. At Hewn, the resulting loss of wholesale customers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":92701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5029,5045,5061,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid-19","category-fall-2020","category-featured","category-health-and-science"],"yoast_head":"\nNeighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Carlyn Kranking Medill Reports On March 16, Hewn bakery in Evanston had 65 wholesale customers. The next day, it had only four. As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, shutting down businesses and driving customers indoors, the Midwest\u2019s grain supply chain strained under the pressure. At Hewn, the resulting loss of wholesale customers, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-03T17:38:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-19T22:23:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlyn Kranking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlyn Kranking\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/\",\"name\":\"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-03T17:38:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-19T22:23:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/162bec5e97f6c213bc7f7eefe57b32ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Faith Albano unloads bread donations in front of Hillside Food Pantry in Evanston. Food pantries, bakeries, millers and farmers across the upper Midwest have joined a program called Neighbor Loaves to protect their businesses during the pandemic and promote food security. (Carlyn Kranking\/MEDILL)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/162bec5e97f6c213bc7f7eefe57b32ae\",\"name\":\"Carlyn Kranking\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9500bfeb1c19499d9c25516091e25e17b09f4a5822c59d610dc5db4b1e265c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9500bfeb1c19499d9c25516091e25e17b09f4a5822c59d610dc5db4b1e265c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carlyn Kranking\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/carlynkranking2021\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Carlyn Kranking Medill Reports On March 16, Hewn bakery in Evanston had 65 wholesale customers. The next day, it had only four. As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, shutting down businesses and driving customers indoors, the Midwest\u2019s grain supply chain strained under the pressure. At Hewn, the resulting loss of wholesale customers, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2020-11-03T17:38:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-19T22:23:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carlyn Kranking","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carlyn Kranking","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/","name":"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg","datePublished":"2020-11-03T17:38:57+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-19T22:23:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/162bec5e97f6c213bc7f7eefe57b32ae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/DSC_0408.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Faith Albano unloads bread donations in front of Hillside Food Pantry in Evanston. Food pantries, bakeries, millers and farmers across the upper Midwest have joined a program called Neighbor Loaves to protect their businesses during the pandemic and promote food security. (Carlyn Kranking\/MEDILL)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/neighbor-loaves-program-protects-every-stage-of-grain-production-amid-pandemic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Neighbor Loaves program protects every stage of grain production amid pandemic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/162bec5e97f6c213bc7f7eefe57b32ae","name":"Carlyn Kranking","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9500bfeb1c19499d9c25516091e25e17b09f4a5822c59d610dc5db4b1e265c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9500bfeb1c19499d9c25516091e25e17b09f4a5822c59d610dc5db4b1e265c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carlyn Kranking"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/carlynkranking2021\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92678"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93458,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92678\/revisions\/93458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}