Farrell Family Organic Bread

The day begins early for the bakers at Farrell Family Organic Bread.

‘We start mixing at about five in the morning,' says  Rick Miller ‘the first mix that comes out then sets until about 10:30 or 11, then they start dividing, gives it time for a really slow fermentation, we keep the bakery really cool so it grows very slowly and that's what develops all the flavors and tastes that make our bread unique.'

This attention to detail is what brings loyal customers like Leslie Norman back buy to Farrell Family Organic bread at the trendy Center 1 Market on Peoria.

‘I love it, I started getting it at the Cherry Street Farmers Market in the summer, and sometimes I get it at Reasor's if they have it. But if I want to make anything good as a sandwich I use the bread.' says Leslie.

 ‘It's made to old world way, we use natural sour, the flour is organic and/or untreated so there's no pesticides or herbicides hit it from the time it goes in the ground. We get a lot of families and people that are really concerned about the products that they put in their bodies. They go for organic foods, they go for natural foods, and they like the local aspect that we bake it at our bakery at 81^st and Yale every day except Saturday.'

And despite the costs of flour more the doubling in a year, people like Leslie continue to pay a premium price for top quality, locally produced baked goods.

‘I think I get my money's worth, I think the quality is so much better and I think the flavor is so much better.  I think it's healthy and I think that's good but I don't go out of my way extremely, it's just more   I ‘m a texture and flavor person.'

By Chris Howell, Video Journalist. Find more of his stories in our Web Exclusives section.