Limited edition “Breakfast Boxes” feature locally-made grain products

This July, Chatham University will host its second annual Grain Box program as part of its Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation (CRAFT) initiatives.  

This year’s box is a “Breakfast Box” featuring a variety of locally sourced and produced grain products, including a biscuit mix developed by graduate student workers in Chatham’s Food Studies program and the Falk School of Sustainability. Other products include granola, fresh masa dough, dehydrated sourdough starter, rolled oats, polenta, buckwheat pancake mix, and more. 

Grain Boxes can be purchased online and will be distributed in July at pickup sites around the city, while supplies last.  

Each Grain Box will contain at least seven grain products, with contributions from various farms and businesses throughout the greater Pittsburgh region. 

Participants in this year’s Grain Box include: Crust Worthy, Weatherbury Farm, Frankferd Farm, and Deer Creek Malthouse. 

“Our Grain Box program helps to grow the reach of local grains farmers, millers, and producers by placing their products in the hands of customers who might not otherwise engage with and enjoy them,” says Cassandra Malis, Program Manager of CRAFT. “Our hope is that by introducing more people to the wide variety of high-quality locally-produced grains in our region, consumers will become more aware of and intentional about the types of local food producers they seek out, invest in, and support.” 

CRAFT’s grains-related work, funded by the USDA Local Food Promotion Program grant, supports local grain processors and producers in seizing a currently untapped market opportunity to grow and sell local grains and grain products in Western Pennsylvania.

These projects aim to alleviate barriers for processors around working with and sourcing local grains, foster business partnerships between regional farmers, millers, and other value-added processors, and increase consumer awareness and consumption of local grain products. 

For more about the Grain Box program, please visit CRAFT at https://www.craft.chatham.edu/grains-about.