BIRSAY, Sask. – Barley, long considered a main feed to fatten livestock, can also help people reduce weight and lower their cholesterol and blood pressure.
Barley advocate Marj Thomson grows, mills, packages and sells the grain from her farm at Dinsmore, Sask.
Thomson, who eats barley porridge every morning, told the June 3 meeting of the Saskatchewan Women’s Institutes that regular consumption will make people healthier.
Science is just beginning to explore the value of barley after finding good things to say about whole wheat, oats and flax, she added. Barley is high in fibre and B vitamins and has a natural antioxidant and a substance called tocols that help fight cancer and heart disease. It also has a low glycemic index, which helps diabetics because it doesn’t raise blood sugars quickly and keeps people feeling full.
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Thomson and her husband Gord became interested in barley cereal and flour while exploring ways to diversify their farm income. They didn’t want to compete against Robin Hood and Quaker Oat so they picked barley, which had no multinational in its corner in 1994.
The Thomsons formed Golden Grains Farm Co. Ltd. with two neighbours and Marj hit the trade show circuit, speaking about the nutritional value of stone ground whole barley flour and rolled cereal.
She said educating the public has been the hardest part of their barley business. She developed a cookbook and recipe cards because people didn’t know how to cook with the cereal.
Her hints are to bake for less time because barley is a moist cereal, meaning cookies won’t go hard. Because it is also low in gluten, cookies will spread out more and bread will be flatter unless the cook mixes one-third barley flour with two-thirds wheat flour.
However, there is still enough gluten in barley to make it off limits for people with celiac disease.
A unique feature of barley flour is that unlike wheat and oat flour, it doesn’t need refrigeration and won’t go rancid.
Thomson is a big fan of hulless barley because it doesn’t need to be refined, yet is easier to digest than regular barley. She noted that the Canada Food Guide recommends people eat 10-12 servings daily of whole grain.
She sprinkles barley into everything she can, sometimes to the consternation of her family.
“My kids say if I could put barley in Jello, I would do that.”
In response to a question from an SWI member, Thomson said a bushel of barley will return them $75 from the 15 bags of flour it yields.
However, Thomson added that after working on the business for 10 years, they still aren’t rich.
“Whatever money you have goes for the business first and second is the family and kids.”
Golden Grains products can be found in SaskMade stores in Regina and Saskatoon and Saskatchewan health food stores.
