The battle over bread

March 27, 2024 by
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During the pandemic, almost everyone turned into a sourdough bread baker. That phenomenon lasted only until supply chains started to catch up and people weren’t idled in their homes, and I expect a fair amount of sourdough starter has since been tossed. It’s a shame, really, because most inexpensive supermarket breads are ultra-processed tasteless loaves while a good loaf of real sourdough can set you back a pretty penny. Is there any way to bridge the divide between affordable, unhealthy mass produced bread and artisanal loaves that aren’t chock full of additives? A recent article in The Guardian tries to find that middle ground in the battle over bread.

Tracing the rise of supermarket bread takes us back to the Roman era, when “the lord’s bread was snowy white and it was up to the rest of the household to ‘know the colour of their bread’ and therefore their place.” Having white bread was a status symbol so it’s ingrained (sorry not sorry) in our collective psyches to value that bread over a heartier, wholegrain loaf. We are also creatures of habit, so if we were raised on squishy white bread, that’s what we are going to seek out later in life. I do love a soft white loaf, even though I know the ingredient list is full of dough conditioners and preservatives.

The other issue is one of cost. The difference in price between a plain supermarket loaf and a handsome, handmade bread can be as high as a factor of ten. Families struggling to stay afloat during a time of high inflation are not going to choose the rustic sourdough if it costs five or ten times as much. But there is room in the middle, says Andrew Whitley, the co-founder of the Scotland the Bread project. If we focus on growing a smaller quantity of higher quality wheat we can bridge the gap.  “If we can eat fewer slices of more satisfying bread, we take pressure off our belts, our food budgets and the natural world, where biodiversity loss from intensive grain farming is as big a crisis as climate breakdown,” he says.

Category: Antipasto

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6 Comments

  • janecooksamiracle  on  March 28, 2024

    I‘ve lived in Germany 🇩🇪 for 50 years. The Germans have ca. 1000 sorts of bread. According to my husband mostly sourdough.
    Once every couple of months I order white cut bread from England. I get 2 loaves and freeze them using a couple of slices every now and then.
    FINALLY a proper sandwich 😀

  • Wende  on  March 28, 2024

    I recently started making Bittman Bread. It has a “mother” starter that relies on dry yeast to get going, unlike the wild yeast from the air that is the hallmark a true sourdough starter.

    Bittman Bread, however, is a much more relaxed experience than what I remember sourdough to be when I made it decades ago, and I far prefer it. I also prefer the emphasis on whole grain breads simply because they are much healthier.

    Baking Bittman Bread can be tailored to fit most schedules, feeding the starter is much less of a pain, and the bread – I settled on a whole wheat seeded rye with my own combination of seeds – is not only the best bread I’ve ever made, but easily falls in with the best bread I’ve ever eaten. The magic of using flour, water, salt, seeds, and nothing else!

  • rmpostonmfandt  on  March 28, 2024

    I lucked out at an estate sale and scored a barely used Zojirushi Mini Bakery bread maker for $5!!! I’ve been using that for a few years now and love making a variety of loaves from a classic white milk loaf to whole wheat breads.

  • dbuhler  on  March 29, 2024

    Oh my, this topic has been at the forefront of my mind for the past two weeks or so. Before I had kids I made all our bread and once I had kids that habit was lost in the hustle and bustle. Now that my kids are a little bit older (7 & 3) I have really started to think about if I could actually go back to baking all our bread. We do consume a bit more now that we are a larger crew, and I also have a new desire to try lots of new types of breads which can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. I was chatting with my 88 year old grandma about this and she told me that when she was raising her family her bread baking day was Monday and she would bake 8 loaves of bread and that would last them the week. We don’t consume nearly that amount, so surely I could do this! 😅

  • Summerlandsky  on  March 30, 2024

    Sourdough really doesn’t have to be complicated. Just a little planning ahead. A lot less equipment than yeasted breads too as I don’t have to pull out a mixer. Fermented bread is also healthier for you. I bake about every other week and triple my recipes. I’ll make three pan loafs and three batards. Freeze them all and take out only what we need. Slicing the pan loafs before freezing makes taking out what you need for toast or sandwiches super easy.

  • MonikaM  on  March 30, 2024

    I love my sourdough focaccia! My starter lives in my fridge (often for a long time … needs some feeding to revive it …) and does never disappoint. It is a labour of love as it takes a while, but I have not bought bread since 2019. Never made sourdough before the pandemic, but became hooked. I make rye breads as well as spelt and wheat … and I don’t have “strong” bread flour … still works! I also make yeasted focaccias, bagels (yeasted and sourdough), baguettes and lots of different breads …

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