Miller Magazine Issue: 120 December 2019

20 NEWS MILLER / DECEMBER 2019 World Flour Day is set for 20 March Flour is one of mankind’s most important staple foods, yet we all take it for granted. Now we have a special day to appreciate it. The National Day Calendar has certified 20th March as World Flour Day. “At last we have one day in the year that reminds us to appreciate our daily flour – the white gold of life”, says initiator Carsten Blum of FlourWorld Museum with satisfaction. Farmers, millers, bakers – in fact the entire flour-processing industry from New York to Sydney, from Buenos Aires to Mexico, from Lisbon to Moscow: they all celebrate this day. Products made from flour are the daily food of billions of peop- le. All over the world, flour is made into delicious foods like bread, biscuits, cake, pasta andmany other goods. It is one of man’s most important staple foods, and has been for thousands of years. DAY OF APPRECIATION Why 20thMarch? The day falls in themiddle of the solstice, that varies between 19th and 21st March. In the northern hemisphere, it marks the beginning of spring and the time for sowing; in the southern hemisphere it represents autumn and harvesting. For farmers and the flour processing industries the days around 20th March are a special time of hope and gratitude. World Flour Day has been officially appointed and certified as an “international day of action” by the National Day Calendar. Millers, bakers, confectioners and pasta manufacturers use this day to draw attention to the significance and diversity of flour pro- ducts with their creative activities. These all fall under the ancient motto: “Share your bread, and it will taste better. Share your good fortune, and it will multiply!” THE INITIATOR: THE FLOURWORLD MUSEUM With the newWorld Flour Day, the FlourWorldMuseumdraws attention to the civilizing power this white gold has always had. “Flour has secured man’s survival for thousands of years”, says Volkmar Wywiol, the founder of the FlourWorld Museum. Established in Wittenburg, Germany, in 2008, the museum houses the world’s biggest collection of flour sacks. The motifs on the 3,500 or more sacks from 140 countries testify to the pride of the millers. They tell surprising, moving and sometimes incredible stories of what corn, flour and bread mean to people all over the world. Moreover, flour is a historical power factor of the highest order. In a cultural and historical tour, the FlourWor- ld Museum illuminates the epoch-making effects flour had on mankind between the Neolithic and the Industrial Revolution and will continue to have in future Algeria to cut wheat imports to save foreign currency The Algerian government announced that it would reduce its wheat imports to 4 million tons to preserve foreign currency re- serves which run out over the years. The government has also set the actual needs of the domestic market for soft wheat at 4 million tonnes instead of 6.2 tonnes imported each year. However, traders remained skeptical about Algeria’s ability to reduce wheat imports so steeply, given low domestic production and the importance of its subsidized bread program. Algeria is one of the world’s biggest buyers of wheat, sourcing most of its supply from France. However, hit by lower oil prices since 2014, it is trying to reduce its imports. It spent about $3 billion on wheat imports last year, including durum wheat, flour, and semolina. In 2018, the grain import bill was $ 2.15 billion. Grain import accounts for 33.8%of the overall food imports. Mass protests this year, which led to the departure of longs- tanding President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, have also pushed the in- terim government to target corruption. In July the government removed the head of state grains agency OAIC after a corruption investigation and has also closed some of the country’s 500 flour mills. After the closure of 45 mills, more than 300 others are un- der investigation, an agriculture ministry source said. OAIC also refrained from any wheat imports in October, breaking with its usual practice of holding tenders every calendar month.