Flour to the People

Supporting local baking connections

The Falkirk Food Connections team were recently involved in supporting an exciting project run by Forth Environment Link and Scotland The Bread, called Flour To The People.

Scotland The Bread grow heritage wheat varieties and mill it into flour in Scotland. The flour they produce is nutrient rich wholemeal. This is more nutritious than most of the bread in shops, as minerals are usually tripped out in the milling process, then added back in. Scotland The Bread think bread should be delicious and full of nutrition.

DIY bread support

The project started as a response to the lack of bread and flour on the shelves during the first lockdown. When supplies at big stores disappeared people turned to independent mills and bakeries, who were also quickly overwhelmed by demand. Flour to the People supplies people with the skills, knowledge and good quality flour to make their own sourdough bread.

40 families took part in the project around Falkirk. They all received a sourdough making pack and a link to a sourdough starter making workshop. In addition there was online support available, baking tips and a Q&A session with a professional baker at the end. All the families taking part were very excited about learning something new. The bread results varied from spectacular to slightly less perfect, but everyone has learnt a lot about bread making! We hope there will be more opportunities for people to take part in future bread making projects.