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Brett Stevenson is the founder of Hillside Grain in Bellevue, ID.  She grew up farming her family's land as part of the Hillside Ranch operation, which primarily produced malt barley, before building a mill and integrating various wheat varieties into the growing operation.  Brett works hard to continue her family's legacy by incorporating delicious bread made with fresh flour into that story.

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Hear more about Brett's decision to begin growing and milling flour in Season 2, Episode 1.

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Brooke Lucy co-founded Bluebird Grain Farms with her husband, Sam, in 2004 when they noticed how hard it was to buy local grains in Washington, a significant grain-growing state.  Identifying that this became even more challenging when looking for organic grains, Brooke and Sam began growing, milling, and selling their own organic grain varieties, specializing in ancient varieties of emmer and einkorn.  They are now supported by a variety of local, regional, and national customers.  

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Hear more about Brooke's experience learning to market and sell grains to her community in Season 2, Episode 3. 

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Sage Dilts is the co-founder of Barn Owl Bakery and Grayling Farm in Lopez Island, WA.  Sage began baking bread in the bay area of California, before taking her talents to Lopez Island with her husband Nathan.  Barn Owl Bakery started with Sage selling bread at markets and giving it away to friends, and now has a permanent residence at Grayling Farm.

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Hear more about Sage's decision to bake and sell bread on Lopez in Season 2, Episodes 5 and 6.

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Steve Lillestol got his mechanical start working on airplanes in the military.  When he moved back to the farm, he transitioned to working on old farm equipment, making it suitable for the small-acreage plots grown on Lopez Island.  Now he uses his equipment to clean, thresh, and mill grains for people like Nathan and Sage, that are looking for local flour.  He is also a farmer, with Island Grist serving as a seed farm that distributes to other Lopez grain farmers.

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Hear more about Steve's background in grains and mechanical genius in Season 2, Episodes 5 and 6.

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Jessica Moon also worked as an engineer before becoming the farm manager at Moon Family Farm.  She does all of the marketing, distribution logistics, budgeting, and necessary paperwork to keep the farm flourishing.  She has also become an expert at completing certification processes and gathering the record keeping necessary to get their farm Food Alliance and Salmon Safe Certified.  

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Hear more about Jessica's journey toward full-time farm work on Season 2, Episode 7.

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Joni Kindwall-Moore founded Snacktivist Foods in 

2016 and began making baking mixes that would allow her children with food allergies to be able to each delicious foods like bread, cookies, and brownies.  This tied in well with her desire to incorporate alternative grains-- such a millet, quinoa, and teff-- into the average American's diet.  By sourcing from regenerative farmers around the nation, Joni and Snacktivist Foods are working to create a more sustainable and local grains economy.  Joni is also the co-founder of the North American Millets Alliance.

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Hear more about Joni's quest to further regenerative agricultural practices on Season 2, Episode 9.

Kit Schumann founded Sea Wolf Bakers with his brother Jesse in 2014.  They began as a purely wholesale bakery, baking in the off hours of a local, Seattle restaurant. In their brick and mortar location on Stone Way, between the Wallingford and Fremont neighborhoods, Sea Wolf offers bread and pastry in a space that is comfortable and welcome to everyone.  Kit and Jesse bake with practices of craftsmanship and local sourcing, acquiring flour from Cairnspring Mills and Shepherd's Grain.

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Hear more about Kit's decision to be a baker instead of a carpenter in Season 2, Episode 11.

Jeremy Bunch is the CEO and Director of Research and Development at Shepherd's Grain.  He is a passionate advocate for no-till farming practices and encourages Shepherd's Grain's collaboration with surrounding research institutions such as Washington State University, the University of Idaho, Oregon State University, The Nature Conservancy, and other private researchers and scientists. Jeremy grew up on a grass seed farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley and worked for several years as an organic certification inspector for the State of Idaho prior to joining Shepherd's Grain.

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Hear more about Jeremy's vision for the future of Shepherd's Grain in Season 2, Episode 13.

Patrick Slater has been involved in local food production in various capacities.  After moving to Orofino, ID from California, him and his wife, Janet Brewer, founded Crow Bench Farm as a pasture-raised pork operation.  After several years of selling  pork direct to consumers, Patrick took his skill of baking sourdough from his kitchen to local farmers markets. He bakes and sells his country rustic sourdough loaves under Idaho's cottage rules and sources flour from Lewiston, ID-based Harvest Ridge Organics and Shepherd's Grain. 

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Hear more about Patrick's transition from pasture-raised pork to sourdough loaves in Season 2, Episode 14.

Phillip Massey is the owner and baker at Bread Riot Bakehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He got into the bread business specifically to use and support the growth of local, heritage grains.  Phillip spent the last decade baking in various locations around the U.S.--from South Carolina to California and eventually Utah--where he now resides.  Phillip proudly uses flour from Hillside Grain in his delicious bread loaves, baguettes, and pastries and is passionate about encouraging customers to incorporate more whole grains into their diets.

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Hear more about Phillip's grain and baking philosophy in Season 2, Episode 2. 

Missy DeLuc co-owns the Mazama Store with her husband, Richard, and the support of many members of her family.  Missy is passionate about providing local products at the store that they are proud of and would want to eat themselves.  The Mazama Store has long carried Bluebird Grain Farms' products and also uses their flour in their on-site bakehouse in muffins, breads, and other pastries.  

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Hear more about Missy's role in taking over the store and revitalizing the bakehouse in Season 2, Episode 4.

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Nathan Hodges found a hope on Lopez Island with his wife, Sage, after traveling to the island to work on a grant.  His desire for local, heritage varieties of flour to use at Barn Owl Bakery led him to begin sourcing and growing various grain varieties at Grayling Farm, and contract with other local farmers.  Together, with Steve Lillestol of Island Grist, Nathan and Sage produce delicious, seasonal baked goods at Barn Owl Bakery.

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Hear more about Nathan's journey as a farmer and interest in heritage grains in Season 2, Episodes 5 and 6.

Garrett Moon is a 5th generation wheat farmer in Horse Heaven, WA.  After a career in engineering, Garrett took over the family farm and began exploring different grain varieties that were well adapted to the low precipitation levels of Southeast Washington.  He then began exploring local markets that would allow his grain to stay within the local or regional food community, beginning a partnership with Ethos Bakery and Café in Tri-Cities, Washington.

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Hear more about Garrett's farming philosophy in Season 2, Episode 7.

Angela Kora began Ethos Bakery and Café because of her desire to bring people together through food.  She began Ethos as a market bakery, and through the last 10 years it has grown into a coffeeshop and bakery where the community can come in for their daily bread and pastries.  Angela is passionate about creating farm to table food opportunities in the Tri-Cities, so she sources from a variety of local produce and grain farms including Moon Family Farm and Palouse Heritage.

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Hear more about Ethos' development into the business it is today on Season 2, Episode 8.

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Kevin Morse was part of the group of farmers, economic development leaders, and bakers in the Skagit Valley that founded Cairnspring Mills in 2016. Having spent time as a farmer and an executive with the Nature Conservancy, Kevin combined his two passions of rural economic development and rebuilding food systems at Cairnspring Mills where they are "starting a food revolution built on sustainable regenerative growing methods that conserve soils and boost the long term viability of family farms. 

Hear more about Kevin's role in founding Cairnspring Mills in Season 2, Episode 10.

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Jill Severson founded Bluebird Bakery in 2019 after selling bread loaves at the Sandpoint Farmer's Market during the summer of 2018.  Jill has extensive baking and cooking experience, having worked in restaurants in Seattle, Alaska, and taken baking classes in New York City. Her specialty is laminated dough, so she makes all the pastries at Bluebird Bakery at their store location on the corner of First Ave. and Cedar St. in downtown Sandpoint.

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Hear more about Jill's experience as a small business owner in a town that caters to tourists in Season 2, Episode 12.

Eric Odberg is a fifth generation farmer in Genesee, ID.  After seeing the issues surrounding soil erosion on in the Palouse, Eric began exploring the potential benefits of no-till agriculture.  By direct seeding, Eric is able to plant new crops directly into the residue of the previous year's crops, which hold the soil in place druing the Palouse's wind and rain events throughout the year. Eric grows for Shepherd's Grain and sees this as an opportunity to keep his grain within the regional food community.

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Hear more about Eric's decision to transition to no-till in Season 2, Episode 13.

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Tanner Van Syke took his love of ceramics to the kitchen, originally working as a baker at the Moscow Co-op in Moscow, ID.  From there, his passion took him around the Inland Northwest and beyond to Alaska, Montana, and ultimately back to Idaho. Tanner connected with Brett Stevenson at the Boise restaurant where he was baking when they decided to start sourcing from Brett at Hillside Grain. Together, Brett and Tanner formed a vision for the on-farm bakery where Tanner now sells bread and pastries to wholesale customers.

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Hear more about Tanner's baking philosophy in Season 2, Episode 15.