Well, this has been the season of Field Trips for our family! :-) Normally we do not take part in field trips, as our schedule and little girls tend to fall apart when we are T O O B U S Y.. But, our friends are always tempting us to join them.. after all, they are such a fun and sweet group to hang out with! :-) Their two families have been best friends for a while now and they have allowed us to tag along, with their 'Creation Adventure Team' as well as their outings and field trips! This time, we were invited to come along to the Bob's Red Mill tour in Milwaukie, OR.
Christie at BRM was *the* best tour guide! We highly recommend her to anyone considering a tour. She was very knowledgeable about gluten free products and she herself is gluten intolerant.
Bob's Red Mill has two grinding/packaging areas, one is specifically for gluten free products. BRM has very stringent testing to ensure there is absolutely no gluten in their gf products. In addition, the company only purchases grains which have not been genetically modified. Only non GMO products for them! Here we see corn being ground..
and shot into the disposable bags which hold 2,500 lbs of grain. The bags have a small orifice at the bottom which is used when packaging the product. In an effort to ensure the lack of cross contamination, these bags are only used once and then sold to local businesses for various purposes.
Christie shows the children how wheat is taken from the stalk and then ground into flour. All of them were able to 'thresh' a stalk of wheat and grind it in a small hand grinder.
Our little Gracie
Here they are packaging oat bran
The children were able to get their hands on many of the grains and legumes.. tiny quinoa and teff, whole corn, soup mixes, wheat berries, sorghum.. too many to list!
Christie explained to the children how the daily suggested servings have changed in the past years.. and how fruits and veggies are now suggested for half of our diet. And how high quality grains are essential for the that portion of a balanced diet.
Hey, Bob himself gives us a surprise visit! Being in his 80's now, he still occasionally stops in to see how things are going. Their story is quite amazing.. we really appreciated his Christian testimony and how when he had a chance to retire and purchase a huge home and live a great lifestyle, he instead chose to give millions of dollars away to charitable causes and 'sell' the company to the employees. We had 2 separate employees tell us how well taken care of they are and how their job is the best!
We grabbed (literally) the kids and got a quick shot with Bob!
Between the tour at the warehouse and visiting the retail store we took advantage of the gorgeous fall day and stopped at the park to enjoy our lunch in the park
A game of chase!
Time to go! :-)
Off to their retail store, located about a mile from their plant
Cutie-pies
A Rubin girl with Laura. They have been mistaken as sisters! You can see why! :-)
Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Section! Wow!
Rye poses by a huge mill stone.. these things are used for literally hundreds of years!
Cute shot with the Pope children
A view from the upstairs restaurant
Mandy and Laura look down at us
Grant peers down at the waterwheel located outside the building
There's daddy shopping in the bulk section
Buying bulk is definitely more cost efficient
A healthy snack for the kids on our way out the door! Honey sticks.. Thank you Christie the tour guide and Bob's Red Mill for a very fun and informative day for our children. 6 years ago when our family went totally gluten free, BRM was such a blessing. Being one of the first companies to offer gf products, they were such a help in the 'early days' of trying to navigate thorough the new lifestyle of gluten free eating. It was a blessing to see just who we have been supporting over the years. Our visit surpassed our expectations! From how they care for their employees (co-owners), to their stringent protocol of purchasing and processing of products, and their responsible and Christian business practices, we are happy to be customers of this great company.
