Toronto Maple Leafs love “Rice of the Prairies”

I’m working on an article about Scott Sigvaldason and his hulless oat product he’s marketing as “Rice of the Prairies.” Sigvaldason’s company, Wedge Farms Nutrition, based in Arborg, Man., has the rights to AC Gehl hulless oats, a variety he instinctively knew had potential in the human food market. It’s catching on. He says 42 Winnipeg hotels and restaurants are using it, and it’s available in numerous Manitoba stores, including Sobey’s. Recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team contacted him asking to get some. They had heard about it through the grape vine, Sigvaldason says, and now the team nutritionist is keen on making “Rice of the Prairies” — or Cavena Nuda — a part of the players’ diet. If they make the playoffs this year, they can thank Scott.

Closer to home, my father-in-law is a big fan. He serves a combination of brown rice and Cavena Nuda with his fresh-caught walleye (pickerel). “I actually prefer the oats over the rice,” he says.

Besides a pleasant taste and texture, Cavena Nuda has 12 grams of dietary fibre and 4.4 grams of soluble fibre per 100 grams. White rice has 1.3 grams of dietary fibre and zero soluble fibre in the same volume.

Cavena Nuda has 17.2 grams of protein per 100 grams. White rice has 7.1 grams.

It has 5.7 milligrams of iron per 100 grams, compared to 0.8 mg for white rice. A quarter-cup serving of Cavena Nuda provides 20 per cent of your daily recommended iron intake.

Granted, it also has way more total fat than white rice: 8.8 grams per 100 grams compared to 0.66 for white rice.

I called Scott this week. He was taking in the first delivery of harvested hulless oats for the year. It has been a tough year in Manitoba Interlake, with many acres not even seeded because of the wet spring. And the wet continued all summer. Finally they’re seeing some hot and dry weather to mature the crop and dry out the fields.

See Scott on Dragon’s Den

Scott will pitch “Rice of the Prairies” to the panel of investors on the CBC TV program Dragon’s Den. His segment airs October 14. Taping has already been done, but Scott has sworn to secrecy. He can’t tell me if tough panel of venture capitalists decided to invest in his company. I’ll find out October 14 like everyone else.