"IDEOLOGY DOES NOT SATISFY US"
[This English translation was generated using an automated translation tool based on ChatGPT, without any manual correction.]
Your breeding research on alternative crops has led to the resurgence of old varieties such as spelt, emmer, and einkorn, as stated on your university's website. But is old better than new?
No. Modern wheat varieties actually have many advantages over old ones. They contain more fiber, provide higher and more stable yields, and require less fertilizer and pesticides. Nevertheless, alternative species also have their justification. They not only contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and are important for crop rotation, but they also represent an important market niche for many small businesses. Take spelt, which is currently very trendy and is now grown on more than 120,000 hectares. The focus is traditionally in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, but increasingly more spelt is being grown in the north and east as well. Billions in revenue are already being generated from spelt products. However, the success is based on the fact that we have bred modern varieties of the alternative crop spelt. The starting point for this was the gene bank of the IPK, because otherwise there was no more seed of various spelt varieties available.
You once mentioned a spelt baguette that you discovered in a bakery during your vacation in France, and said that this baguette would not exist without your work. What drives you in your work? Is it these practical connections to everyday life?
Definitely. I want to create the foundation for products that are actually needed. Standing in France and knowing that this spelt comes from our research group was a special, very motivating moment.
For the research project "Future Wheat," you recently received a funding notification of 1.5 million euros from Federal Minister of Agriculture Alois Rainer. What is the project about?
At its core, we are investigating how bread and rolls can be produced in a more climate-friendly way without compromising on quality. We are looking for ways to produce wheat with stable baking and nutritional quality using less fertilizer and pesticides. So far, the quality of baking wheat has often been assessed based on the protein content in the grain. Instead of just looking at the amount of protein, we focus on the complex interplay of protein, starch, as well as dough and baking quality. A key is to further develop and, above all, accelerate the corresponding analytical methods.
At its core, we are exploring how bread and rolls can be produced in a more climate-friendly way without compromising on quality.
Friedrich Longin
Can science solve the problem on its own?
No. For that, we not only need to involve the breeders, but also farmers, grain traders, mills, bakers, and consumers. This work with and along the value chain is a particular focus of my research. The perspective of individual scientific disciplines is often too one-dimensional.
What does the bread of the future look like from your perspective?
We should definitely work with more mixed breads, as this requires more types to be cultivated and creates real crop rotations. Wheat offers a lot of room for environmental adaptations and is important for baking quality in addition to nutritional quality. Rye, meanwhile, is a very hardy crop that can cope with stress and poor soils, and also provides denser breads with the typical color and flavor. Spelt lies - broadly speaking - right in between.
Baking needs to be practiced: Friedrich Longin at a training course at the Stuttgart Bakery School.
In a stone mill, grain can easily be ground into whole grain flour at home.
The traditional pastry par excellence with spelt is the rustic spelt souls, airy, crispy, and deliciously fine in taste.
What else should be considered?
We should not only use several types of grains but also native seeds like flaxseed, buckwheat, poppy, or sunflower. These not only provide great taste and important nutrients but are also important flowering plants for local agrobiodiversity. If we pay a bit more attention to the ingredients and taste and accept a more rustic appearance instead of very inflated, large-volume baked goods, we are doing good not only for our health but also for nature.
What else should we as consumers consider?
What is most commonly purchased? Toast bread and large, soft rolls! However, we should buy less of these white, fluffy baked goods because their production requires not only flour of the best quality but also a lot of fertilizer. Whole grain bread, on the other hand, contains significantly more nutrients. Therefore, we should eat more whole grain products. So far, the market share of whole grain bread and whole grain rolls is only ten percent. There is still room for improvement.
You have identified an unrealistic view of nutrition in industrialized countries. How do you determine that? And why is that a problem?
Some have romantic notions of agricultural production, dreaming of small farms with free-range animals on vast pastures and seeing food only through an ideological lens. Just think of all the “free from” slogans that have almost become a religion. Nevertheless, they want to buy their food as cheaply as possible and have it available at all times. Both cannot work in parallel. We need to find a balance between more sustainability in agricultural production and maintaining high productivity. These are the central challenges of the global food value chain.
Pure organic farming is therefore not a solution.
While many good approaches are pursued in organic farming, we must also face reality. Yields in organic farming are still significantly lower than those of conventional agriculture. For example, wheat yields are on average about 40 percent lower. However, we need high yields to feed a growing world population without requiring more arable land, which is gained through deforestation and the conversion of grasslands. A disaster for biodiversity. Ideology alone does not satisfy our hunger. At this point, I would also like to advocate for conventional agriculture. In 1960, a farmer here fed 17 people; by 2023, it was already 153. Modern agriculture is, seen this way, a unique success story that we should still strive to make as sustainable as possible.
On your YouTube channel, you already criticized in a video in 2021 that food research only sees dots, while the entire value chain is not considered, and thus important levers are not utilized.
Yes, that's true! Let's take the example of low whole grain consumption. It is often said that it is due to the mills that prefer to sell white flour. Completely wrong; they would of course love to use not only 80 percent of the grain for human consumption but everything. However, we consumers must first want more of it. This happens too rarely, whether due to ignorance or a lack of great products. With the right recipe, juicy and fluffy whole grain baked goods with a good and tolerable nutrient profile can be created.
And then?
If both conditions are met, farmers could even further optimize the nutrient quality of baked goods through special fertilization and breeding by selecting particularly nutrient-rich varieties. Conversely, it makes no sense to enrich the nutrient content in the grain margins that are not utilized in white flour. This is what I understand by work and problem-solving along the value chain.
How can more sustainability be achieved in eating?
It is equally important that we waste significantly less food. This is not only about products that end up in the trash later. Fruits and vegetables are often not even harvested because their appearance does not meet expectations. And often, the ends are missing in toast bread packages; this is also a form of waste that we can no longer afford. Moreover, we should include more regional and seasonal products in our shopping baskets. And of course, we should consume fewer animal products.
You not only regularly give lectures at other universities and conferences but also at field days, mill conferences, and baking academies. Why do you engage outside of the pure research community?
I have always enjoyed answering press inquiries, and perhaps that has become known (laughs). But I also enjoy discussing with people from practice and have therefore sought contact with farmers as well as bakery and milling businesses. As for lectures, like recently at the IPK, I enjoy being on stage as a long-time musician; it’s just fun. Later, social media was added, which I also like to use to talk about my research.
“Cool baked goods - simply made yourself” is the title of one of your YouTube videos. And at your lecture at the IPK, you also gave some baking tips. The question remains: What kind of bread do you like to eat the most?
Like with wine, I love the variety in bread as well, but on weekends, we regularly have spelt rolls at home. This is a traditional Swabian pastry made from a very soft and moist spelt yeast dough that delivers uniquely crispy and juicy baked goods with a very rustic appearance and wonderful taste.