{"id":434,"date":"2010-06-29T19:09:04","date_gmt":"2010-06-29T19:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hub-dev.bates.edu\/food\/alumni\/jim-amaral-80-his-borealis-breads-feature-maine-grown-organic-wheat\/"},"modified":"2017-10-10T15:30:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T19:30:58","slug":"organic-wheat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/food\/alumni\/organic-wheat\/","title":{"rendered":"Organic wheat: Jim Amaral ’80"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"James<\/a>

James Amaral ’80, founder and president of Borealis Breads, poses for a photograph at his company bakery in Wells, Maine. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Jim Amaral\u2019s bakeries in Wells and Waldoboro, Maine, produce some 4,500 loaves on their busiest nights.<\/p>\n

Integral to the well-known line of Borealis Breads is organic whole wheat from Aurora Mills in northern Maine. The Aurora-Borealis connection came about because whole wheat is perishable: Wanting fresh flour, Amaral worked with farmer Matt Williams in the 1990s to re-establish in Aroostook County a grower network and the wheat-processing infrastructure that Maine lost decades ago.<\/p>\n

The result, besides good bread, is a reawakened Maine grain industry, benefiting farmers, bakers, consumers, and the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you buy food, you\u2019re making a political decision,\u201d says Amaral. \u201cThose dollars that you\u2019re paying to a local food producer are going to stay in the community and support many other businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multimedia<\/strong><\/h3>\n