Posted on Tue, Sep 07, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on September 7, 2010
September is National Whole Grains Month. On behalf of everyone at Great Harvest, I want to thank you for choosing healthy whole grains to feed your family. Whole grains are a powerhouse of nutrition and provide many essential vitamins and minerals. By choosing whole grains and eating 3 ounces everyday, you are reducing your risk of many chronic diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, digestive cancers and stroke. You are also helping your body maintain or even lose weight. Your children have a lower risk of obesity and diabetes, and are less likely to have asthma and acne. Another bonus -- we all feel more full and satisfied after eating whole grains.
So you know that whole grains are better for you and your family, but have you ever wondered what makes a whole grain a whole grain? All grains start out as a whole grain. Grains have three parts: the
bran, the germ and the endosperm. If after processing (milling, grinding, etc.) all three parts are still there, it is a whole grain. If any parts are removed, like removing the bran and germ for white flour, it can’t be a whole grain. Whole wheat flour used at Great Harvest is fresh ground each and every day. Nothing is added and nothing is removed leaving our flour as 100% whole grain.
Why does your family choose whole grains? taste? nutrition? something else?
Posted on Tue, Aug 24, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on August 24, 2010
I would like to see white flour try to beat these benefits. The Whole Grains Council collected research on whole grains and found that by eating the recommended 3 ounces of whole grains each day along with other plant foods and foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol you reduce your risk of many chronic diseases including:
Heart disease by 25-36%
Type 2 Diabetes by 21-27%
Digestive Cancers by 21-43%
and Stroke by 37%
Plus it has been shown that people who eat 3 ounces of whole grains each day weigh less than those who don’t. That’s reason enough for me!
The best part about these incredible health benefits is how easy it
is to get 3 ounces of whole grains every day. Each slice of Great Harvest bread is right around 2 ounces. So your turkey sandwich for lunch on two slices of Honey Whole Wheat gave you 4 ounces of whole grains and helped reduce your risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 21-27%.
Who knew something that tasted so good could be that good for you?
Posted on Wed, Aug 04, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on August 4, 2010
Although not every fruit, vegetable and grain is ready this month, August is a perfect time to celebrate the harvest. If you have your own garden, you have enjoyed the fruits of your labor all summer long. Even the produce in the grocery store
and farmer’s markets are booming with freshness. We love fresh ingredients and this month we celebrate our key fresh ingredient -- wheat!
Appropriately named the Golden Triangle, the high plains of Montana produce some of the world’s best bread baking wheat. The cold winters rid the wheat of bugs and disease. The hot, arid summers give the wheat extra protein. Each fall, we test scores of wheat lots to make sure our bakeries get only the wheat that bakes the best bread. Our relationship with local farmers gives us the first pick of the harvest.
After wheat has been picked it is shipped to each b
akery where it is milled fresh everyday! The flour is used within 48 hours so it keeps all the nutrients found in the original grain. That is the Great Harvest difference.
Have any of you watched the wheat harvest in Montana?
Posted on Tue, Jul 27, 2010
Posted July 27, 2010 by Brittny BirdYou have probably heard that whole grains are good for you but do you really know why? In addition to many great health benefits like a reduced risk of many chronic diseases,
whole grains have many vitamins and minerals that are essential for us to be healthy. They include carbohydrates, antioxidants, phytonutrients, B-vitamins, folic acid, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc, potassium and fiber.
Hopefully you have heard of a few of these but do you know why they are essential? The vitamins and minerals found in whole grains are important parts of:
- Metabolism (using energy from the foods you eat)
- Healthy immune systems
- Building bones
- Making red blood cells and carrying oxygen in the blood
- Keeping your heart beating and nerves working
- Protection against many chronic diseases
- Keeping you feeling full and satisfied for longer – weight management
- Lower cholesterol and blood pressure
- Keeping blood sugars normal
Many studies also show that eating the food is better than just taking a supplement. Our bodies know what is good for them. It’s a good thing that Great Harvest whole grains give you all these nutrients and taste phenomenal!
What are your tips for getting vitamins and minerals from food instead of supplements?
Posted on Thu, Jul 22, 2010
Posted by Mike Ferretti on July 22, 2010
When you join the Great Harvest family, you get the honor of coming to our world headquarters in beautiful (and I am not kidding) Dillon, MT for three weeks of school. Today was the beginning of our latest cycle of classes for new franchisees and we have an awesome group from all over the country.
I teach the opening session and it is called “Vision” but I am 
thinking of renaming it “Focus.” In our core business our greatest competition is the ability to stick your arm out in the bread aisle of your grocery store and pick up a loaf. We ask you to make an extra stop to come see us and tens of thousands of people do that every year.
Why? I am the only person in Great Harvest that I know of that pays for bread (all home office employees are given a pretty unlimited supply of bread and most bakery employees get a bread allowance as a job benefit) so I kind of feel qualified to answer that but probably not as much as you. I had to miss my class this morning (note to Delta…. thunder storms happen in the south in the summer….if you are going to make the busiest airport in the world live there, figure out how to work with the weather in a way that is more customer friendly than “deal with it”…Northwest never had these problems) and the woman that teaches it when I can’t is on vacation so I had to give a quality tutorial, quickly, to the next person up. I didn’t do it well because of time zone issues but it did make me come back to what matters. I have the first chance to frame the discussion of the training cycle so what is really important? Whatever it is that makes you walk by the grocery bread aisle without putting a loaf in your cart. But, what is that?
According to all of our research, I am a pretty normal customer. I buy our products because I get a tasty, fresh, whole grain product made by someone I know. Pretty simple but it requires a strong focus to do it well. Make something that tastes great, is incredibly fresh (that is why it tastes so great….), make it help me live longer and have it served by someone I can relate to. Done. I am in.
But it is so easy to get lost in the reality of our market. Everyone has an idea. There are diets du jour. People used to hate carbs. Now they hear bad things about gluten. We sell those for a living so it is important to not loose sight of what matters to you. I suspect the important things are: Taste. Freshness. Local ownership. Whole grains. Change things up but keep that focus and I will buy it…..
Is that it or am I not as typical as I think?
Posted on Tue, Jul 13, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on July 13, 2010
Any way you slice it, fresh bread just tastes better! At Great 
Harvest, we take freshness a step beyond ordinary. Each day our bakers mill hundreds of pounds of Montana grown hard red wheat berries. The whole wheat flour is then used within 48 hours to make bread and sweets for you. We use fresh flour for a few reasons but taste is definitely number one.
Slice for slice and loaf for loaf, Great Harvest breads are just bigger. The generous size and density is largely because of fresh ground flour. Other bakeries use dough conditioners to boost loaf volume, but this leaves the bread tasting airy and not flavorful and hearty like whole grain bread should be.
Most vitamins and minerals are afraid of light, heat and air. As soon as the grain kernel is broken or fresh vegetables are cut, vitamins and minerals start to leave. As time goes on, more and more leave. Granted eating any form of whole grains, fruit and vegetables is better than not e
ating them at all, but fresh has the best nutrition. By milling our own flour, you get superior nutrition to any other whole grain product. The fact that it taste better too, is a nice side benefit!
What is your favorite whole wheat product from Great Harvest?
Posted on Fri, Jun 18, 2010
Posted by Debbie Huber on June 18, 2010
We love whole grains, but it's not something we are used to hearing about in the news. Maybe that's why a couple blog posts
and some traditional media coverage this week have us pumped up and giddy!
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health released a study comparing white rice and brown rice consumption in the U.S. to the development of type 2 diabetes. They looked at three study groups and data from 1986 to 2006. They found that the people who ate higher amounts of white rice were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Also, the people who ate brown rice were less likely to develop the disease. Of course this only shows a correlation, not cause and effect, but it is consistent with other studies.
The study's conclusion is that "Substitution of whole grains, including brown rice, for white rice may lower risk of type 2 diabetes. These data support the recommendation that most carbohydrate intake should come from whole grains rather than refined grains to help prevent type 2 diabetes."
Unfortunately, some of the best tasting whole grain choices, whole wheat bread and brown rice, are not foods that the average American grew up eating. We can pat ourselves on the back for eating a sandwich on Great Harvest whole wheat bread and be happy that we found a way to get our whole grains today, but how do we help educate the entire country about the health benefits of whole grains?
Posted on Wed, Jun 02, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on June 2, 2010
Looking at my list of national healthy holidays I was very surprised to see that June has been named National Turkey Lovers Month. Like many of you I wondered why November isn't declared the month of turkey appreciation. According to the instigators of the holiday, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, it's the ideal time to celebrate the delicious taste, versatility, high quality nutrition and cooking ease. June's celebration emphasizes turkey's year round popularity.
Turkey really is an often overlooked lean protein option. A 3-ounce serving of roasted, skinless turkey breast contains 26 grams of protein, 45 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of fat and only 120 calories. A very healthy choice. In fact, now you can get some of your favorite products in a lower-fat, but just as tasty, version. For example, turkey sausage, turkey bacon and ground turkey are a great way to have all the flavor of a high fat meat but in significantly less calories.
Another great way to enjoy turkey is on two slices of mouth-watering Great Harvest bread. Fresh deli-sliced smoked turkey with lettuce and tomato maybe a few peppers and a savory spread on whole wheat bread give you a delicious lunch, packed with great nutrition.
What is your favorite turkey recipe? Or your favorite sandwich?
Posted on Tue, May 25, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on May 25, 2010
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
I have always known that whole grains are better for you, but sometimes it is hard convincing others. Even astonishing facts like "removing the bran and the germ for white flour takes out 17 key nutrients and 25% of the protein" and "whole grains have 3 to 5 times the nutrients found in refined grains" sound great, but are just facts until you can really see the difference. Imagine my excitement when I saw this picture from the Whole Grains Council that illustrates the nutrients in refined and enriched flours compared to whole wheat flour:
If this was whole wheat, all of the nutrient bars would be over to the 100% line. The light colored bars show what is left in refined white flour and the dark maroon bars show which nutrients are added back into enriched white flour.
All I have to say is "WOW"! There really is an incredible nutritional advantage when I eat a slice of Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread.
What do you like to eat to get your whole wheat flour or other whole grains?
Posted on Fri, Apr 16, 2010
Posted by Brittny Bird on April 14, 2010
As a parent you take extra steps to make sure your kids are safe - car seats installed correctly, food cut in bite size pieces, shoes tied, etc. And you also make healthy choices for your family, like buying them great tasting whole wheat bread. Whole grains give kids needed energy and essential nutrients to keep their minds and bodies strong and healthy.
This weekend, communities and YMCAs across the country are celebrating Healthy Kids Day. You can find local events here and YMCA Healthy Kids Day events are free and open to all. In addition, here are a few fun and engaging ideas for the whole family to promote year-long wellness and health.
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Go for a family walk once a week.
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Eat dinner together every night. Many studies show that families who eat together have much healthier diets and family relationships.
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Have your kids help plan and make dinner. Use the time to talk about each of the different food groups you are using and why they are important. Also kids are more likely to eat good foods when they help prepare them.
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Each week have your child pick out a new fruit or vegetable from the grocery store to try.
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Enjoy the warmer spring weather -- get outside and play Frisbee, catch, tag or shoot hoops.
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Set a family fun night each week where you do an activity as a family.
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Play at the park or go for a bike ride.
What are your favorite ways to stay healthy with your kids?