ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
This week, NPR is looking at how the climate affects what we eat, and how what we eat affects the climate. Farmers in the U.S. grow nearly 50 million tons of wheat every year, but a lot never reaches people's plates. Scientists at the Washington State University Breadlab have shared a straightforward and delicious solution with NPR's Alejandra Borunda.
ALEJANDRA BORUNDA: Inside the Washington State University Breadlab in Burlington, Wash., it's warm and cheery and smells like sweet flour, yeast and baking bread. Visiting professional baker Mel Darbyshire pulls a cooled English muffin from a rack and slices into it.
(SOUNDBITE OF KNIFE CUTTING BREAD)
MEL DARBYSHIRE: They're good.
(LAUGHTER)
DARBYSHIRE: We need a cup of tea.
BORUNDA: That English muffin has a secret - it's whole wheat. That's because it comes from the Breadlab, and the Breadlab's not-so-secret mission is to get Americans to love whole wheat, which, surprisingly, could be a climate solution. That's because wheat has a waste problem. Here's Stephen Jones. He's a wheat scientist, baker and the just retired leader of the Breadlab.
STEPHEN JONES: About 70% of the wheat that's harvested in this country goes to our food or someone's food. The other 30% is the bran and germ and that goes away.
BORUNDA: Most of the grain grown is used for white flour. The rest of it gets tossed. That's a lot of unnecessary waste, but Jones sees a simple fix.
JONES: We could increase the amount of food that we get per wheat acre by 30% if we just eat the whole wheat.
BORUNDA: Most Americans don't eat much whole wheat. Jones says the basic problem is, people remember that whole wheat bread used to be bad.
JONES: It was horrible. I mean, it was just horrible. Dry and crumbly and just bitter and things like that.
BORUNDA: But it doesn't have to be that way. That's the mission of the lab - to develop more climate-resilient wheat that also tastes good. One of their experiments is called the Climate Blend. The flour comes from a wheat that was bred to be resilient to extreme weather, which is getting more intense because of human-caused climate change. Today they're using it in a bread they call the Approachable Loaf.
DARBYSHIRE: They're a nice, kind of deep, kind of mahogany brown.
BORUNDA: Baker Darbyshire pulls a rack of them from an oven.
DARBYSHIRE: Yeah, and they smell amazing.
BORUNDA: It's a puffy, soft loaf, baked in a tin that looks exactly like the bread emoji, only 100% whole wheat version. And the scientist bakers of the lab developed the recipe so it would live up to its name, approachable - not expensive, not fancy, something that lasts up to a week on the counter. The Breadlab scientists have partnered with baking company King Arthur to make the flour available nationwide. It's only a fraction of the 49 million tons of wheat grown in the U.S. each year, but Jones says sometimes solutions are first about showing what's possible.
JONES: Part of the mission of this lab is to show that you can make wonderful English muffins, bread, baguettes, hamburger buns, anything out of whole wheat.
BORUNDA: The lab comes together to test that hypothesis by tasting the Approachable Loaf.
DARBYSHIRE: This is the regular Approachable.
(SOUNDBITE OF KNIFE CUTTING BREAD)
JONES: That has a creamy brightness. Honestly, it tastes like it has butter in it. It is very bright. That's the best ever. That is amazing. Is that Climate Blend?
BORUNDA: Another lab member, Janine Sanguine, sums it up.
JANINE SANGUINE: I mean this in the most complimentary way - it kind of feels like white bread but, like, tastes good.
BORUNDA: Even fussier critics have given their stamp of approval, Jones says. Case in point - on a drizzly, cold Saturday morning, the lab hosts a pop-up bread sale, and even the littlest attendees are excited to be part of the whole wheat climate solution. Siblings Ada Jane, George and Henry are whole wheat curious.
ADA JANE: What's this kind of bread?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, they do have some (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I'm buying it. I'm buying it.
HENRY: Climate Blend?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Is this the same?
BORUNDA: And George is fully on board with the bread life.
What's your favorite bread?
GEORGE: I like sourdough.
BORUNDA: You like sourdough?
GEORGE: I love sourdough.
(LAUGHTER)
BORUNDA: Me too, George. Me too. So eat more delicious whole wheat bread? That's a climate solution to get behind. From Burlington, Wash., I'm Alejandra Borunda for NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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