Values 2 and 3 of 3: Ingredients and Quality
I decided to combine these last two because as I was writing about ingredients, I found myself naturally drifting into writing about quality. The truth is, there is a lot of overlap when it comes to ingredients and quality. Technically, ingredients could fall under the umbrella value of quality, but I want to put ingredients and quality both at the forefront of this business.
One of the things that I enjoy about baking is that I know what I am using in my food. At least for the most part. I say for the most part because there seems to be more and more that I am finding out about how ingredients get processed and are sourced. I don’t know much about this, but I know enough to question and feel slightly uncomfortable. Now, that has been fine when I make food just for myself, but when I’m making goods for others I want to produce something that I can be confident in the ingredients used and the quality of that product.
The biggest area of overlap is “quality ingredients.” “Quality ingredients” can be defined multiple ways. My top priority when looking for quality ingredients is their sourcing. The sourcing of a product has direct implications on the quality as it is grown, harvested, processed, packaged, and shipped. Sourcing also has an impact on human rights and environmental justice, as some organizations do not use child and/or slave labor and have an eye on their environmental impact. For all of these reasons, I am moving towards locally and ethically sourced goods. I know and acknowledge that finding quality ingredients will be a journey as our food system doesn’t typically support this type of food source, at least not with much convenience. I also know that some ingredients won’t be able to hit both of these categories, but I am committed to doing my best with this and replacing ingredients as I am able. Luckily, I have some great connections for places to start with replacing some of my bigger ingredients such as flour and chocolate.
I am also working to be aware for what makes quality ingredients beyond sourcing, such as fat content (necessary for high quality baked goods), water content (good in some cases, not in others), and processing. I have already started this journey with chocolate. Last year, I started looking into chocolate and realized that there is so much I don’t know! At the time, I didn’t have the time or motivation to continue to research this, so I decided to pass on chocolate altogether as I didn’t feel comfortable putting a product out there that I knew was not the best quality that I could produce. Now, in these last few weeks, I have been able to research and experiment with chocolate more and understand how it is processed, what makes a good quality chocolate, and where I can get ethically sourced chocolate.
The value of quality goes beyond ingredients as there are many steps between gathering ingredients and producing a product! Ultimately, the value of quality is a commitment to learning and using best practices as it pertains to the process of baking and, in the end, producing a product that is beautiful and delicious. This is another step in my chocolate journey as I research and experiment with how to use and bake with quality chocolate to produce a beautiful and delicious chocolate goodie.
Now, let’s get down to some practical matters. I have a lot to learn about both quality products and ingredients and have set some goals for myself and my business this year. Some of the things that I am committed to learning and doing this year are as below:
Highlight an ingredient and its source each month to include with orders.
Continue to search for locally and ethically sourced goods
Research beyond sourcing what makes good ingredients (i.e. fat content (necessary for baking, water content, processing, etc)
Replace flour, sugar, chocolate, eggs, and butter with quality local and/or ethical ingredients.
Join a baking community (online), take classes, and practice new skills in order to continue to grow in my baking ability and learn about best practices in baking and decorating.
Create an “Ingredients” page on my website that highlights the sourcing of ingredients.
The last thing I want to touch on is how the three values of community, ingredients, and quality, intersect. As I search for quality ingredients that are locally and ethically sourced and produce quality goods, my baked goods give back to the community I am a part of. And that is what makes a stable, thriving economy, that what I am buying goes into my baked goods, those baked goods go into my community, and the money moves in and out, allowing for a continuation of give and take. I LOVE this and the idea that we, as members of a community, can support each other as we grow, create, bake, make, and live our lives.
