The Fresh Loaf

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Where to Buy Wheat Berries Vancouver, BC

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Where to Buy Wheat Berries Vancouver, BC

Hello fellow bread enthusiasts,

 

I have recently just bought a grain mill (a second hand KoMo Fidibus 21) and am looking to find some quality wheat berries for a reasonable price in my area. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia and I was hoping that people could share their supply. I have found field stone organics, but they seem to charge quite a bit for their grains. I was hoping to find something more reasonably priced. Any input would be greatly appreciated! 

Dsr303's picture
Dsr303

I just bought a bag of wheat berries and have no idea what to do with them.I don’t have a grain mill. Got them at the Amish Market in town. 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

from Daybreak Mills in Saskatchewan. The shipping is a bit steep but the product is worth it. 

As to Dsr, you can cook the berries and use them like rice in a variety of recipes. 

Floydm's picture
Floydm

I don't use them often and only use small quantities so I haven't comparison shopped, but I've found them bulk at Granville Island. Whole Foods too, if memory serves me right.

I've also recently seen https://www.eatgrain.ca. The prices seem high to me but perhaps the quality justifies it.

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Thanks for the resource! they do seem really steep. $50 for 5 kg of grain is a bit ridiculous. Free shipping though which is nice haha

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I live in Victoria, and buy sacks of organic grains from Vancouver Island Grain and Milling. There is a person here in town who gets bulk orders from people twice a year; he delivers to her and we go to her place and pick it up. I get Red Fife, rye, hulless barley, soft white wheat, spelt and Kamut from him regularly. Lovely stuff! Maybe you could contact him and see if you could place a bulk order or something.

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Thanks! I just sent them an email to inquire about pricing as they don't seem to have anything posted on their website. I would be interested in that person's contact details however as I don't know what VI Grain and Milling's shipping policy is and it would be a pain in the butt to have to drive a long ways once taking a ferry to pick it up. 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I know he picks up his grain from various farmers in Western Canada, so presumably he at least passes through Vancouver on his way back to the Island. I wonder if he has a distributor there? Or a drop off point?

LindaA's picture
LindaA

Hi,

First of all my apologies if I've posted twice; was having some trouble.

For the occasional loaf of bread, as already mentioned, try Granville Island and Whole Foods.  You could also try Choices (various locations), Kits Natural Foods, Stongs (on Dunbar), Famous Foods (on Kingsway), Galloways (in New Westminster), and Pomme (in PoCo).

If you’re serious and/or need a larger quantity of grain, get in touch with Cedar Isle Farm Organic Grains, for  organic grain grown in Agassiz. They are a CSA and offer memberships (shares) for wheat, rye, oats & barley. They also sell smaller quantities at various Farmers’ Markets around the city. Fieldstone Organics may sell through retailers around town so it might be worthwhile to inquire about that.  

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Wow, thanks for the list. I really appreciate it. I am definitely looking to get bulk as it just makes sense for wheat berries since they can last for so long, saves money and I plan on making bread for a long time to come. I just sent Cedar Isle farm an email so hopefully they will get back soon. I have seen Fieldstone organics website before, but they seem quite expensive at $2.60/kg for bulk order. Maybe the quality makes a difference but it would be nice to find something cheaper. Do you know of any non-organic farms selling bulk? 

LindaA's picture
LindaA

Goodness gracious, I'm having my share of problems. I'm a newbie - I promise not to do that again.!

LindaA's picture
LindaA

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Hi again,

The short answer to your questions is: No, I don’t know of any non-organic farms selling bulk grain.  BC doesn’t grow a lot of wheat or other grain crops; the farmers that I’m aware of are all growing organic and trying heritage varieties and by doing so, are carving out a nice little niche for themselves.  I agree organic is more expensive, but in this particular case I prefer to support local and organic, so honestly, I’ve never even looked into buying conventionally-grown grain in bulk. 

In my last post I mentioned Famous Foods and Galloway’s – neither of those two shops are exclusively organic, so they may also carry non-organic wheat and other grains. It’s worth a phone call. Stores like Save-On and SuperStore have bulk food sections that carry a variety of non-organic grains, seeds, etc. etc. I haven't looked there lately, so I don't know for sure - just an idea. Good luck!

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Ya BC doesn't seem to sell much conventional wheat. I spent a while looking around online and most of it seems to be grains grown exclusively for livestock. I definitely want to support BC so I guess I will probably have to end up buying organic and dishing out the extra cash. Thanks for the input! 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I've got a guy over here on the Saanich Peninsula who grows wheat, lentils and malting barley for local sale. I buy bags of his whole wheat flour (he sends it over to Anita's mill in Chilliwack for milling) regularly. He uses a little Roundup at harvest time as many Canadian farmers do and I don't have a problem with that. Check out Saanichton Farm. I pay $26 for a 20 kg sack of flour, and $24 for a 20 kg sack of wheat berries. I suspect there are Fraser Valley farmers growing wheat who just don't advertise online which makes it difficult to find them.

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I know I have seen hard wheat berries there and the price might be a little more palatable. 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I buy a lot of different bulk grains at Bulk Barn, both organic and otherwise. They even have things like sprouted spelt berries and farro!

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Great! one just opened up in North Van so I will check them out!

NeilM's picture
NeilM
bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Great website! I am actually planning on passing through there this summer and will pick some up. Great price if you can avoid the shipping! Thanks for the resource

NeilM's picture
NeilM

Your Welcome :)

I buy the 25lb sacks. Then vacuum pack into small parts.

fissionc's picture
fissionc

I see one mention of Anita's, I just came by a mill as well and bought my wheat directly from their store in Chilliwack. They are fully organic, and the hard red was priced at 1.27/lb.

Famous Foods is good for bulk foods in general, and they're conveniently located, but their price for hard red is closer to 2.25/lb so I think Anita's is the better source.

bakers-buns's picture
bakers-buns

Thanks Fissionc, that is actually the best price I have seen anywhere taking shipping and everything into account (you can just drive there which is so nice!). I have just emailed them to see what they would be willing to sell and if they would be willing to do a bulk order. Thanks a ton

Dynamic Wheat's picture
Dynamic Wheat

What qualities are of value to the readers of this blog?

Cedarmountain's picture
Cedarmountain

I have been participating with Cedar Isle Farms through their CSA prorgam for several years now. They are an organic farm operation in Agassiz growing heirloom Marquis, Red Fife, oats, rye and barley. I recommend their CSA program without hesitation, they are fine folks working hard to grow clean, organic non-gmo crops and supporting them through the CSA is a win-win...  http://www.cedarislefarm.ca/  

Fieldstone Organic Grains is also a good source for all sorts of grains/seeds...various wheats, rye, oats, spelt, khorasan, millet, corn etc. I also live in the lower mainland but find making a bulk order with a few other local bakers helps with the shipping costs and the premium price for the product seems less significant given the quality of their grains.  https://www.fieldstoneorganics.ca/

I mill my own grain as much as possible but recommend Anita's Organics, also in the Fraser Valley, for organic all purpose flour https://anitasorganic.com/  Many local bakers use Rogers Silver Star all purpose flour, also a Western Canada wheat flour with no preservatives, additives or chemicals apart from the vitamin enrichment as required by the Canadian regulations. It is about as good as one can expect from a large scale commercial flour operation but it is not as clean as Anita's flour or your own milled flour from a source like Cedar Isle Farms. The flour may well be without additives, preservatives, added chemicals but the same may not be true for the source wheat being used. I contacted Rogers recently asking if the wheat they are using has been treated with glyphosate (aka Monsanto's Roundup herbicide) and received this letter response:

"Rogers Foods Ltd.

4420 LARKIN CROSS ROAD  ARMSTRONG, B.C. V0E 1B6 PHONE: (250) 546-8744  FAX: (250) 546-8228

August 21, 2018

Glyphosate is used to assist in the even “maturing” of wheat and other cereal grains by effectively stopping the continued growth of the grain. Glyphosate also controls unwanted weeds. This is essential for the modern farming methods and allows for “cleaner” combining at harvest time.

Health Canada has determined Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) for glyphosate and many other herbicides and pesticides. The limits set by Health Canada are measured in parts per million (ppm)

Grains are routinely tested by the Canadian Grain Commission. Grains must have residues lower than the MRL for consumption on Canada as well as sale to Japan and other export destinations.

Rogers Foods send our grains out to an accredited, third party analytical laboratory each crop year. Residue levels are well below the MRL as set out by Health Canada and the United States FDA and EPA.

We purchase wheat and other grains from numerous suppliers who ship from growers in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is possible that some growers apply glyphosate to their fields at harvest time. We are not able to segregate our grain supplies based on whether or not they were grown and / or harvested with the use of glyphosate.

Rogers also requires suppliers of ingredients for cereal products to maintain residue levels below the MRL in order to produce a safe product for consumers.

The Canadian Organic Regime does not allow the use of glyphosate on Organic Crops. Organic cereals are less likely to have glyphosate residue and would be an alternative to conventional grain products. "

I hope this information is helpful.  If you do decide to go with Cedar Isle Farms' CSA program, I suggest signing up quickly as the limited shares have been available online for a few months now. Yoshi or Jim are happy to respond to any email enquiries but this is a really busy time of year for them so it may be a few days before a reply....but that's a good thing because it means they're hard at work getting the farm ready for another growing season!

 P.S. I forgot to mention that Anita's offers bulk order and shipping discounts; if you email they will send you a price list.  If you place a group order the bulk discounts might make it more appealing to you?

Lucidcat2's picture
Lucidcat2

I recently found out that Walmart sells some wheat berries, Bob's Red Mill brand. Also, Augason Farms (Kelowna based) at good2goco.ca sells 26# buckets for I think about $60. Not sure if there's shipping as well.

0live's picture
0live

Flourist (https://flourist.com/) sells grains and will grind the grain/overnight ship to those of us without a mill.

They're also opening a new brick-and-mortar store this year at some point, as far as I know.

Lucidcat2's picture
Lucidcat2

Yes, we went to their pop up in Gastown last month & they said they are opening up a store in the Trout Lake area in August (of 2019).