Clips: Local Millers
For Columbus Monthly, February 2025:
Local Millers Stone-Grinds Sustainable Flours for Columbus Chefs and Bakers
Heritage grains and regenerative agriculture are the stars at the family-owned supplier based in Carroll, Ohio.
Kirsten Reach
It’s only midmorning when I meet Doris Bozzi, owner of family-run Local Millers flour, but she has already made several stops today, including to Weiland’s Market to drop off the pumpkin biscotti she bakes. If you start looking, you’ll see the Bozzis’ grains in many places, including in the Birdseed Sourdough at Yawning Bear Bread, the Rust Belt Sourdough at Littleton’s Market Bakery and in The Bread Pirate Roberts’ offerings at Emmett’s Café, to name a few.
Founded in 2021, Bozzi left her full-time job in March 2023 to pursue the business, which now mills 6,000 pounds of flour each week at Brandt Family Farm in Carroll, Ohio. Founder David Brandt is known as the “godfather of regenerative agriculture,” according to Local Millers’ website, and the sustainable farming practices produce unique grains that are in high demand. Today, Local Millers is selling its flour widely in Ohio, with partners in Lancaster, Gambier and Sandusky, in addition to business across Central Ohio.
Why are locally farmed grains healthier?
Columbus is in the middle of an agricultural state, and Ohio is one of the largest producers of soft red wheat in the nation, according to data from Ohio State’s Agronomic Crops Network. But much of the state’s corn is grown for livestock, and most of the flour is grown for the commercial market. The Bozzis are determined to provide grains that are local, stone-ground and that support the soil through regenerative agriculture.
“Whether you have a heritage, heirloom, ancient or modern grain, if it’s grown on a farm that is focusing on their soil health, it’s going to be a healthier product,” Bozzi says. While Local Millers does offer some modern strains of wheat, when it’s “grown properly, it’s going to be healthier than somebody who’s mass-produced it on soil that has no nutrients and just added lots of chemicals to it,” she explains.
What grain products do Local Millers sell?
One standout product is Local Millers’ Blue Clarage cornmeal, made from a sweet dent corn with a remarkable hue that has been grown in the Columbus area since the 1920s. Bozzi says Blue Clarage has traditionally had a bit of a marketing problem, since the farmer who first popularized it had the last name Rotten, and it was known for years as “Rotten corn.”
But with Local Millers’ rebranding and a little cream, the heritage corn has found a new audience. “I swear by it, and I try to push it on other chefs,” says Ryan Southern, executive chef at Alqueria on King Avenue. “I’ll keep using it forever, probably.” Southern uses Blue Clarage for the restaurant’s shrimp and grits, pork belly and fried green tomatoes.
Liz Brett, owner of Yawning Bear Bread Co., agrees the flavor and scent of Local Millers’ flours are “extraordinary.” While baking with freshly milled flour has a learning curve, requiring a lower hydration than what you might find on grocery shelves, the Bozzis’ partners find the experience worthwhile.
“I cracked open some Turkey Red [wheat flour]. When I opened that bag, I was like ‘Oh, I’m standing in a harvest field right now. I’m in coveralls, I’m a farmer,’” Brett says. “I instantly fell in love.”
Check out recipes using Local Millers' flour and purchase a bag for yourself at localmillers.com.
https://www.columbusmonthly.com/story/lifestyle/features/2025/01/22/local-millers-mission-is-to-grind-flours-for-ohio-chefs/77550595007/