The new $3.5 million grant includes funding for several outreach efforts.

From restaurants …

The researchers will partner with 30 restaurants – 10 in the Pacific Northwest, 10 in the Midwest and 10 in the Northeast – to host naked barley “pop-ups.”

Restaurants will be mailed a bag of naked barley so that they can include a naked barley-based item on their menus.

The pop-up collaborations with restaurants will take place during the third and fourth year of the grant, Oregon State University barley breeder Brigid Meints said.

The research team is currently planning virtual baking trials with professional and home bakers with the Artisan Grains Collaborative, one of the grant partners in the Midwest.

Once the pilot project is conducted with Midwest bakers, the researchers will reach out to bakers on the West Coast and in the Northeast.

… to classrooms

Outreach to K-12 students took a pause during COVID-19 because teachers were “already overwhelmed,” Meints said.

During that time, an OSU graduate student helped put together several lesson plans, available on the Oregon Ag in the Classroom website.

With the new cycle of funding, Meints hopes to re-engage with K-12 teachers and host field trips, offer classroom visits and provide seed to go along with lesson plans.