when I started got the goods back in 2021, I really just wanted to bake cakes for my friends. over the years, got the goods has grown into a small business that has allowed me to create connections in the city I live in, explore my culinary skills in many new and exciting ways and foster a relationship with food that I am eternally grateful for. while baking alone is fulfilling, i also hope to grow this business, and this platform, into something I can communicate and learn through. i hope for this page, my learning page, to be a space to share my thoughts, ideas, hopes and dreams with the people who stumble into my space. most of it will be about food. but some of it will also be about politics. some of it will be about relationships, some of it about connection, some about land. in my mind, its all about food anyway. some will be academic, I have spent years of my life honing the skill of academic writing, a skill I do not want to lose. but some will also be bullet point lists. some of it tangents, such as this one.
i hope you enjoy <3
xo
laura
on grain
I adore baking, for all its meticulous detail and vibrant textures. I also adore baking because it brings about a depth of understanding within our food systems that many other areas of culinary do not. Every delicate morsel is layered with the global world we exist in.
I have linked research of mine, produced during my undergrad at the University of British Columbia. The following research seeks to explore wheat as a commodity and a pillar of the modern food system. I have no intention to villainize white, all-purpose (AP) flour with this research. AP flour serves a fundamental role in our food system, providing energy in the form of daily calories to millions of people around the world. In this, it acts as a pillar in combating food insecurity. Globally, white flour also acts as a base for delicate, complex, delightful pastries and breads, serving different functions in every culture from Indian roti to French croissants. Without it, the baking world would not be the same.
All this to be said, like any mass-produced agricultural product, we need to shift how we think about flour and use it. The following essays seek to illuminate the complex history and evolution of grains, the nutritional profiles and benefits of wheat, the diverse potential of its cultivation and the political sphere that dictates the grains' distribution, use and consumption. Finally, I hope to provide readers with a living guide on where to find whole grain farms, millers and bakeries in Vancouver and Lower Mainland BC as well, as to share resources to further educate my community.
pictured is my mother’s farm on a late august evening, stooks of barley glowing in the neighbouring field.
on kinship
I wrote this paper for a Geography class I took in university on the environment and society. I have reflected often on the ideas I presented. While there are things I would change, and I might one day, the central thesis has informed much of my later work.
Kinship in our food system is essential. It informs connection and respect for things we take for granted. I hope this paper can illuminate some of the ways colonialism and colonial food systems have dismantled the kinning relations we, as eaters, must have in order to cultivate a sustianble food system.
on property
As part of a final assignment on Challenges to Indigenous Food Systems, one of my dearest friends and I collaborated on a Zine addressing the issue of private property as it relates to Indigenous Food Sovereignty.
