Jones Library

Wheatberry Bakery & Café is a restaurant in Amherst, Massachusetts that serves locally-grown and -sourced ingredients from farms in Western Massachusetts. Its mission to provide “farm fresh” food is part of the local food and farm-to-table movements. Wheatberry was founded in 2005 by Ben and Adrie Lester, residents of Shutesbury, Massachusetts, and originally sold the products wholesale and at farmers markets. In 2007 it shifted to become a storefront, located in the center of the town of Amherst across the street from the home of Emily Dickinson. Wheatberry now serves products from 17 farms in Massachusetts, and also showcases the work of local artists and authors.

History

The Lesters began selling their farm vegetables and homemade bread and pastries in 2005 at the Belchertown Farmers Market, which they helped to re-start. Two years later the Wheatberry Bakery and Café storefront opened at 321 Main Street in Amherst, MA, which sold food from their farm as well as other local sources such as eggs from family-raised hens. By 2008 almost all food items in Wheatberry were locally sourced, but they were not yet focused on serving certified organic food. In 2008 the Lesters received the “Young Entrepreneurs of the Year” award from the Small Business Administration. Instead of focusing on expanding, the Lesters decided to focus on increasing the percentages of their products that were local and organic. By 2011, 90% of vegetables and 100% of meats and cheeses that Wheatberry served were organic; by 2013, 100% of all food was certified organic. citation about being one of the first 100% organic food service establishments in the country??

Local Foods Philosophy

Owners Ben and Adrie Lester are proponents of the local foods movement and believe that food made with local products is more economically and environmentally sustainable, healthier, and better-tasting. and fluctuating grain market prices, the Lesters began a project to source grain from New England. They helped found the PVHG-CSA to try to promote local growing of grains such as wheat, corn, beans, rye, spelt and barley. A two-bushel mixed share of all available grains are distributed once a year to all members, who purchase the grain share for $380. Grains are delivered unmilled, and can be cooked and eaten whole, or milled at the Wheatberry location in Amherst, at a partner farm in Waltham, or at home. In addition, Ben Lester advocates growing and milling one’s own grain: “But is growing grain for home use feasible? According to Lester, it is. He says that grains grown in a 50-by-50-foot plot could provide a family with enough flour for a year. A plot that size would likely have to be hand-harvested and hand-threshed, he acknowledges, but estimates that it would involve about only 10 hours of work. For those interested in grinding their own flour for baking, Lester says there are “all sorts of grain mills” on the market, from hand grinders to electric models. He says the hand models are good for milling up to 2 cups of flour at a time, but for larger quantities he recommends investment in an electric grain mill.”