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Archie and Mattie

Posted at 6:07 AM on February 8, 2008 by Donna McClurkan (9 Comments)

My daughter and I have been making farm visits since late December. We are on a mission to learn everything we can about where our food comes from. Without exception, we are engaging with farmers who are as anxious to share their stories as we are to hear them.

Meet Archie and Mattie Jennings. They grow our grain – hard red spring wheat flour, multi-grain flour (a blend of the spring wheat, buckwheat and spelt), and several types of corn with interesting names: Hopi Blue, Black Aztec, Trucker’s Favorite, Bloody Butcher and Reid’s Yellow Dent.

On a sunny, bitter cold, early morning visit in late January, Archie warmly greets us and leads us to a building which serves as a combination airplane hangar (he’s a pilot), storage shed, and grain mill processing operation. We learn about yield per acre, his 95 year old stone grinder, and a bit of Native American history relating to the varieties of corn ground for cornmeal. We warm up by operating the hand crank on the grain cleaner (called a clipper). Our “barn” tour concludes when my car is loaded up with grain orders, each already packed and individually labeled, for several Kalamazoo friends.

Mattie welcomes us into their home, where we warm up near the corn burner. We are given cherry bread, graham crackers and a buckwheat pancake to sample. We hear about the curative and restorative health benefits of eating buckwheat. It turns out this rhubarb relative is exactly what we need to fill a gap in our locally sourced food menu: breakfast. We are given a small amount of starter for pancakes, and, in the spirit of their generosity, I make a mental note to pass along a portion of it to a friend. Mattie and I trade recipe ideas: wouldn’t salsa be great on buckwheat pancakes? She talks about her Amish heritage and how she learned to can and preserve food at a very young age. Archie makes sure we know they are full partners on the farm. They do everything together - from planting, harvesting and selling their grains to growing most of their own food.

“One more story…” turns into 3 hours. We don’t want to leave.

A few days later, in response to our thank you letter for the visit, I received an email from Archie with this well-timed advice:

If your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it, don’t eat it.

Comments (9)

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Hi Donna - I love this story! I am envious that you live in a place where you can get your own grain that is grown locally. We were visiting with friends last night and talking about how we are lucky to have local bakeries where we can buy fabulous breads. But where does the grain come from? Are there any places close to us where we can buy local grain (aside from Johnny Cake)? I think I need to do a little research on this. Also, I have wanted to try to make my own bread and making it with local grains would be wonderful. Archie's advice is a good rule to live by! Keep up the good work. Take care, Barbara

Posted by Barbara Kattman | February 8, 2008 7:41 AM

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Hi Barbara - your note led me to look up the term Johnny Cake and I learned it's another name for cornbread, and so are the names Journey Cake and Corn Pone. So thanks for your note and adding to my ever-expanding food vocabulary! Good luck on your grain hunt, wherever "local" is for you. I hope you'll write back and share your experience.

Posted by Donna McClurkan | February 8, 2008 8:44 AM

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I've been hearing the "if your (great) grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it" remark quite a bit. I'm pretty sure it is Michael Pollen.

I know it is just a guideline to keep us away from overprocessed food, but I'm always afraid people take things like it seriously.

My great grandmother would not have recongnized much that wasn't German. So, no tacos, Indian food, Ethiopian, etc. She probably also wouldn't have recongnized anything "fancy". In Minneapolis there are lots of very fancy, great tasting, local food sourcing restaurants. Just because grandma wouldn't have recongnized foie gras isn't going to stop me from eating it, especially when it is locally sourced.

Posted by Kassie | February 8, 2008 9:25 AM

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Kassie - thanks for heads up on the quote from Michael Pollan. I am a huge fan of his work, and appreciate the 'credit where credit is due' tone of your note. Here's what he wrote in an article called "Unhappy Meals," accessible on his website: "Don't eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." Pollan's intent may be to encourage us to avoid overprocessed food, as you say. I read other things into his quote (and Archie's), though, and will write more about this, and your thought-provoking comments about your great grandmother, in a post sometime soon.

Posted by Donna McClurkan | February 8, 2008 10:10 AM

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I also really enjoyed your story. This whole experience has shown me how anonymously I go about getting my food needs met, maybe a smile and hello at the store or farmers market but nothing more. With this project I am having to call people and visit in more personal settings which is a lot of fun but also a bit of a challenge if you are a somewhat shy introverted person......all very intriguing.

Best wishes, Vera

Posted by vera schabicki | February 10, 2008 4:26 PM

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Donna - how cool that you found a local source for grains. And that does bring up a great (rhetorical) question - where does the grain come from - even when I buy organic and whole grain products? Hmmm, food for thought.

question - How do Archie and Mattie make a living? Do they sell their grains to local stores, restaurants, etc? I wonder if any of it ends up here in Ann Arbor (I live just down the road).

Ruth

Posted by Ruth | February 11, 2008 1:26 PM

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Donna,
Loved your story.... I just made buckwheat pancakes last weekend, but not freshly ground or stone ground!! I am jealous. My great aunt used to make buckwheat pancakes with wheat that was ground by her brother. She lived to be 106 and her little brother is still living and he is 102. Keep up the good work ... and remember, sometimes eating local is as simple as keeping garlic from good friend's garden from going to waste!!!! Also, were you able to drizzle the pancakes with syrup from the Kalamazoo Nature Center's maple trees?

Posted by Nancy Sawle Knobloch | February 11, 2008 8:07 PM

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Hi Ruth - try the co-op in Ann Arbor. Last I checked, they stocked several varieties (though not Archie's). Archie sells his grains at a markets in Lansing and Grand Rapids. I can send more detail if the A2 option doesn't work for you. We have a person in Kzoo that is coordinating group purchases for folks on our listserv, and we're hoping to combine a class with Archie & Mattie's delivery visit. Very cool way to connect farmers with consumers, eh!?

Nancy - love your buckwheat story; reminds me of the yogurt commercials from several years ago! You would appreciate the expanding availability of maple syrup around town. It comes from Paw Paw and can be purchased at Irvings, Just Good Food, Sawalls and People's Food Co-op. Stock up (and visit) next time you are in Kalamazoo.

Posted by Donna McClurkan | February 14, 2008 5:08 AM

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Donna, love that you are able and willing to answer each person who makes a comment on your blog. Your answers are always thoughtful and from the heart. Thanks for being yourself.

Posted by Brusselsprouts | February 15, 2008 10:35 PM