Frequently Asked Questions

The real question is, why isn’t the entire United States sprinkling crunchy buckwheat goodness on their brekky every morning? Shouldn’t the buckwheat flower be our national flower or something? What is our national flower? Anyways, here’s the deal: sprouted buckwheat seeds add this addictive crunch you really won’t find anywhere else—not from baked granolas or any kind of nut. We love crunch, so this is important. Beyond the crunch, let’s talk HEALTH: “superfood” doesn’t have an official definition, but buckwheat defines it. It’s a gluten-free, grain-free FRUIT SEED (yup) that’s high in plant-based protein, fiber, antioxidants (some studies say 10x more than quinoa), magnesium and more. Learn about all the buckwheat benefits here, and why we process buckwheat the way we do to make Lil Bucks.

TL;DR: We are obsessed with buckwheat because it’s amazing for humans and the planet, it’s versatile and it tastes amazing. 

We hear you - the word “buckwheat” is confusing because it actually does not contain any wheat at all! It’s a grain-free FRUIT SEED more closely related to rhubarb and strawberries than actual wheat.

Fun fact - the word is thought to have come from the Dutch word boecweite, AKA “beech wheat". The triangular buckwheat seeds reminded the Dutch of the larger but also triangular beech nuts from the beech tree, and then the use for these seeds is similar to a grain so wheat came into play. We decided to name our company Lil Bucks to drop the wheat from buckwheat and just call ‘em bucks! And they’re cute ‘lil seeds, so hence “Lil”. 😉

Yup! Technically buckwheat seeds are fruit seeds coming from a flowering plant. They are gluten-free and grain-free, and thus make a great substitute for grains for those following a paleo or mostly grain-free diet. We are careful to only source other paleo ingredients when formulating our products to make this a great option for paleo and gluten free eaters! 

It comes down to where we source from and how we process the buckwheat. First, instead of sourcing buckwheat from China or Russia, which is most common in the U.S., we are committed to buying from North American farmers. It costs a little more, but we’ve found the quality to be higher and it helps our soil health which is much needed here (learn more here).

Then when it comes to processing, rather than serving you raw buckwheat that has to be cooked or sprouted in order to be consumed, we do the work for you! We go through a bit more trouble by first sprouting and dehydrating the raw buckwheat so the nutrients are available to you to eat raw. With buckwheat, it has to be cooked or sprouted in order for humans to absorb the amazing nutrients. Traditionally, buckwheat is cooked, but then it’s not crunchy! By sprouting and then dehydrating, we are preserving the seeds in their raw form, but provide them to you in a nice shelf-stable, CRUNCHY format. 

For our standard 6oz bag, I’d say generally 1-2 weeks, depending on how much you eat per serving. Some people have a full 1/4 cup for breakfast as cereal or use a bag at a time to make energy balls / other recipes. And other times you might just sprinkle some seeds on toast or ice cream. If you are a daily user, we highly recommend the 1lb bulk bags and/or subscription program.

Glad you asked! Read up on our regenerative agriculture mission here, but real quick: buckwheat is a wonderful cover crop for organic farmers, bringing nutrients back into the soil for future crops, making those more nutritious. Our soil desperately needs this. Our goal is to elevate demand for buckwheat in the U.S. so we can get more organic farmers to include buckwheat in their crop rotations. Right now our buckwheat comes from farms around Minnesota and North Dakota, and starting in March 2022 we’ll be making products from our exclusive partnership with amazing regenerative organic farmer A Frame Farm in Minnesota. We are proud to be the first buckwheat brand in the U.S. that is committed to using sustainably grown American buckwheat.

In order for our bodies to process all the incredible nutrients in raw buckwheat groats, the seeds must undergo the sprouting process to release enzyme inhibitors that block our bodies from absorbing all the seed’s nutrients. For Lil Bucks, we first sprout them and then dehydrate them to cut out all the moisture, so you are left with shelf-stable, raw nutrient-packed seeds that have a wide variety of uses.

We’ve been on a JOURNEY to find compostable pouches that still protect the integrity of the product, and we’re still on that journey, so for now we still need to use plastic pouches (read up on that saga here). So in the meantime, we partnered with RePurpose Global to become #PlasticNeutral certified. We commit to removing 47 plastic bags from the environment for every bag of Lil Bucks we sell. It’s awesome—you can even become plastic neutral yourself by taking their quiz here. 

Americans typically eat only half that amount of fiber they need, and while fiber supplements can help depending on the need (digestion vs cholesterol vs glycemic control), getting your fiber from real foods is the best. Whole food fiber provides Dietary (intact) fibers made up of both soluble and insoluble fiber. When you get your fiber from whole foods, your fiber grounds are covered. This Cooking Light article explains when and why to use a fiber supplement (and what kind). But if you get all your fiber from whole foods, trust us, you won’t need one. Eating a higher-fiber diet is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers, plus a lower body weight, greater satiety, and improved gut and digestive health. Given buckwheat’s high fiber content, buckwheat is considered a prebiotic, which you need to process all those probiotics you’ve been consuming (lookin’ at you, kombucha fiends). Prebiotics are essential food for probiotics, beneficial bacteria for your gut.

Lil Bucks are free from the Top 8 allergens, and are made in a facility that is free of gluten, soy, nuts and peanuts. All of the oats run in our facility are also gluten free. This is a nut free facility. Buckwheat is also an allergen free ingredient.Clusterbucks contain coconut, and are made in a facility that also processes nuts. While none of the ingredients in Clusterbucks contain nuts, we encourage those with an extremely severe nut allergy to be careful. The machines are heavily cleaned and sanitized before Clusterbucks are made.The Everything SZN-ing contains sesame seeds, and is made in a shared commercial kitchen, so this means that while everything is heavily sanitized between users of the kitchen, there could be gluten-containing or nut-containing ingredients in the space, even though none of our ingredients contain gluten or nuts.

Absolutely and we actually find that kiddos are some of our biggest fans! It’s a great sneaky way to get them to eat healthy food, and adds a really satisfying texture (and protein!) for them. They’re easy for them to eat and chew, too. It warms my heart to hear kids being excited about our products because it means they haven’t developed an overly-sweet pallet with some of the messed up products Big Food tries to serve them. Hopefully we can start ‘em young on a path to whole food delicious eating and living!