Glenn Roberts, owner of Anson Mills in Columbia, holds kernels of John Haulk corn, a rare variety he harvests and mills. Photo by Amanda Taylor

Whether you enjoy going out to eat or cooking in the comfort of your own home, you can get the best ingredients for good old “comfort foods” right here in Columbia.

Glenn Roberts is the founder of Anson Mills, a gristmill in operation since 1998. The mill is located behind Constan’s Car Wash on Gervais Street and produces over 80 distinct corn, wheat, and rice products, which are distributed wholesale across the country.

With four farms here in Columbia (30 farms in six states total), Roberts, along with Dick Steed and Ashley Evans, are the farmers, seeds-men, and the millers. One to three tons are produced a day, which is a great deal considering no tractors are used in production; everything is hand mixed. The seed stock found here is not sold anywhere else.

By the end of the Civil War, the production of daily foods was declining. According to Roberts, these daily foods consisted of rice bread and all baked goods milled with Carolina Rice flour. Roberts’ main priority in starting Anson Mills was to bring back the daily foods of the past and make them available to another generation.

Glenn Roberts demonstrates how his corn mill operates. The machine has stone disks inside it that grind corn into grits, cornmeal, and corn flour. Photo by Amanda Taylor

A number of chest freezers in Roberts’ warehouse contain various varieties of corn, wheat, and Carolina Gold Rice. In case something goes wrong, a few other warehouses also store these seeds in chest freezers. Under this same roof are the oldest and the newest form of technology.

Roberts’ products are prized by top chefs for their freshness and full flavor. Oxidation and heat kill the flavor of the corn, wheat, and rice. Roberts achieves this superior flavor without using chemicals during the process.

One person prizes Roberts’ products for non–food use. “My daughter takes The Cherokee Blue corn, which is used to make “blue grits,” grinds it up, and uses it as eye shadow,” Roberts said.

There are several places in which to get the products from Anson Mills. For example, Rosewood Market is one of the retailers they mill for every week. Garibaldi’s of Columbia also retails with the mill.