D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
April
2008
Living Harvest Bakery
Page: 2"As Papa said, the Farmers' Market stopped in October, but the bills didn't stop then," eldest daughter Hannah puts in.
Amy says, "Then we found the Las Cruces Farmers Market. It's a market that runs all year long. Because of the larger population base and the market's year-round consistency, we were able to stay in business."
And then along came the Atkins Diet, with its low-carb philosophy. "You'd think the Atkins Diet would hurt us," Amy says. "But the low-carb diet actually grew our business, because people began to realize that it was the simple carbs that needed to be avoided, and the complex carbs were the healthy ones."
Whole wheat and other whole grains are complex carbohydrates, and products made of whole-wheat flour also qualify as complex carbohydrates. Products made of white flour do not.
White flour is whole wheat flour from which both the wheat germ and the bran has been removed. This allows the flour to be stored longer without spoiling, but the downside is the loss of vitamin E and about 20 other nutrients, healthy fiber and a number of important proteins.
In the Living Harvest Bakery brochure, the Coffeys add, "Another important factor. . . is that the milling of white flour renders the flour down into a simple carbohydrate. One piece of white bread converts to sugar in the blood as fast as eating two marshmallows. This is why white flour products are so fattening. The sugar can quickly turn to fat."
Most people in this country, however, have grown up eating white bread. They are used to its bland taste and light texture. For this reason, the Coffeys use a different variety of wheat than is found in most whole-wheat products. "Instead of red winter wheat, we use a white spring wheat that comes from a company in Three Forks, Montana," Travis explains. "The bran coating is thinner and golden in color rather than red. White wheat bridges the gap for people raised on white bread. It's lighter in color, lighter in flavor and lighter in texture. But we don't take anything out. It's all there — the wheat germ, the bran, all the nutrition without the heavier texture and flavor."
As an added bonus, the white wheat "tends to be higher in protein than your usual wheat — about 15 percent," Travis continues. "The reason this particular wheat tends to be higher in protein is because of the weather patterns in the area of Montana where it grows — wet, followed by drought, then wet again. Apparently this concentrates the protein content."
Hanging around the Coffey family for any length of time, you're bound to pick up interesting bits of information like this. That's simply part of their philosophy of education. In the Coffey household, education is inextricably woven into the pattern of everyday life. "We are constantly talking, constantly teaching, whether we're cooking a meal, making change for a customer, whatever," Amy says. "That's the thing we like about homeschooling: you're always teaching."
So, apparently, are the bakery's customers. "Tim Donovan — he's the customer who most taught me how to give change," Hannah says. "And now we have another guy who's teaching Elizabeth."
"The children are so interactive with the customers," Amy says. "There's one customer in Las Cruces of Spanish descent who Hannah is talking into helping her learn Spanish by simply holding a conversation in the language whenever they meet. She's quite persistent. She really wants to learn."
Persistence and ingenuity obviously run in the family. Travis rigged up economical but comfortable living quarters for his growing family by putting together two old mobile homes. The storage room behind the bakery is housed in an old truck box. The certified bakery kitchen was built on site — but not on the site where it currently stands. It was originally built at the Beiler residence and, when the partnership was dissolved, Travis popped the kitchen on a flatbed truck and moved it — not once but twice: first to the house the family was renting at the time, and later to their own property, where it remains today.
The storage room behind the bakery is housed in an old truck box. On the same property, and nearing completion, is the brand-new, solar-heated, ultra-insulated and thoroughly attractive house Travis and son Benjamin have been building for the past two years with very little help from professionals. A walk-in freezer has just been built and is operational, and future plans include construction of a wood-fired oven for the bakery.
The Coffeys have also expanded beyond baked goods. All the other products the Living Harvest Bakery sells put an emphasis on health, of course: fresh ground peanut butter, fresh ground almond butter, fresh ground almond/peanut butter mix, fresh roasted almonds, Cinnamon Roasted Almonds and a brand-new creation, Cajun Roasted Almonds.
They also sell xylitol, a sugar substitute that occurs naturally in fibrous vegetables and fruit, in corn cobs, and in some hardwood trees. Originally extracted in Finland, xylitol is said to be indistinguishable from sugar in taste but to behave much better in the human body, with 40 percent fewer calories than sugar, 75 percent fewer carbohydrates, and a much slower absorption rate.
You can also buy Chia seeds through the Living Harvest Bakery — super little seeds that the Aztecs first discovered and used as a high-energy endurance food. The claims made for Chia seeds range from helping to alleviate thyroid problems, blood sugar problems, digestive problems and insomnia, to treating depression and difficulties in concentration.
If you want to know more about any of the Living Harvest Bakery offerings, Travis and Amy Coffey will be happy to tell you more. They're eager to help educate everyone, not just their own children, in the benefits — spiritual as well as physical — of our daily bread.
The breads, muffins, cookies and other products of the Living Harvest Bakery can be found at the Las Cruces Farmers & Craft Market, the Valle Mimbres Market and in a number of locations in Silver City, including the Silver City Food Coop, Javalina Coffee House and the Yankie Creek Coffee House. The bakery itself is harder to find, tucked away on a little side street in the tiny village of San Lorenzo in the Mimbres Valley, near the school. Ask anybody in the village. Or call for directions: (575) 536-3263. The family does sell products directly from the bakery itself.