Gambit's 40 Under 40 in New Orleans: See the 2019 class

BY KANDACE POWER GRAVES, RAPHAEL HELFAND, HOLLY HOBBS, KATHERINE M. JOHNSON, KAYLEE POCHE & SARAH RAVITS

Jun 9, 2019 - 10:00 am

Graison Gill, 31

Headshot_Credit Denny Culbert_resized Small.jpg

Owner, Bellegarde Bakery

www.bellegardebakery.com | Instagram: @bellegardebakery

Six years ago, Graison Gill started Bellegarde Bakery, which provides bread made using fresh flour ground on a stone mill in the bakery to more than 100 restaurants and markets throughout Louisiana. The name is a nod to Louisiana’s first bakery, which opened in 1722.

Gill recently expanded his focus to become more active on the political and policy levels of food, touting the “importance of small food producers” to the “health of Louisiana’s economy.”

“The potential economic and ecological impact of small food producers for our state is huge,” he says. “Politicians must be made to understand the viability of local food made with local ingredients.” He adds that while food is “about pleasure and fulfillment, it is also a tool for social change.”

Gill also is working on a book he plans to complete by the end of the year. — SARAH RAVITS

Click here to read the full feature: https://www.theadvocate.com/gambit/new_orleans/news/article_95fa5fd8-87b0-11e9-b778-3f9e0c1742ba.html

Emily Diament