Enjoying a gourmet donut or fresh-baked bagel at Portland International Airport means you are also doing your part for the planet.

That’s because Blue Star Donuts and Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen both use Northwest-sourced, Food Alliance Certified Shepherd’s Grain flour. Produced from no-till, direct-seed farming, Shepherd’s Grain helps renew and preserve the land for future generations.

Shepherd’s Grain was born in 2003 and carries on a tradition that reaches back generations. Shepherd’s Grain growers are also its owners, most of them working land that’s been in their families since the early 1900s or before. Co-founders Fred Fleming and Karl Kupers envisioned a better farming model that regenerates our most precious asset, our planet.

No-till farming is a way of growing crops without disturbing the soil through tillage. Direct-seed farming plants seed directly into undisturbed soil. The combined result is an agricultural technique increasing the amount of water infiltrating the soil and improving the retention of organic matter and cycling of nutrients in the soil. The approach reduces soil erosion and increases the amount and variety of life in and on the soil, improving biological fertility and making soil more resilient.

The Shepherd’s Grain Find Your Grower feature reinforces its commitment to renewing the relationship between consumers and farmers who grow their food. Each grower is certified by Food Alliance™ for sustainability and complies with strict standards for land improvement.