Made Local Magazine, March/April 2026

What comes to mind when you imagine your local farmers market? Those first sweet, hand-picked strawberries in April? The late summer arrival of apples, mounds of vibrant heirloom tomatoes? Even in winter colorful veggies greet the shopper.

Wandering past these familiar offerings 15 years ago, Mai Nguyen felt something was missing, as if locally grown food had been relegated to side dishes on the table. Because when Mai considered their own diet, one essential ingredient was nowhere to be found: grains.

Some local food evangelists consider grains to be the antithesis of the farmers market: an industrial monocrop, a global commodity, a glutinous vice so unwholesome that its once foundational place upon America’s food pyramid was, earlier this year, demoted to a small corner once reserved for sugar.

But for Mai, the problem isn’t grain; it’s how little we understand it. They’re on a mission to change that.