The Real Bread Campaign is on a mission to make fresh, additive-free bread accessible to everyone. This initiative is fueled by the belief that bread, a staple in many households, should not only be affordable but also nutritious and made without chemical raising agents or other additives.
Bread holds a significant cultural impact, acting as a symbol of connection and community. The term “Companions” originates from the old French word compaignon, which means ‘one who breaks bread with another’, affirming the universal bond created through the act of sharing bread. The Real Bread Campaign seeks to reinforce this bond by promoting better bread for everyone, irrespective of their interest in local food, transparent labeling, therapeutic baking, or just the taste of an excellent toast.
The Real Bread Campaign, part of the food and farming charity, Sustain, is focused on various aspects of its vision. It pushes the UK government to adopt its proposals for an Honest Crust Act to improve the composition, labeling, and marketing standards of bread. It allows consumers to make better-informed choices about their purchase. One of their key initiatives, Sourdough September, encourages people to buy or bake their additive-free sourdough bread. Furthermore, their project, Bake Your Lawn, educates children about the origin of bread, stating that it starts from a field and not a factory. It has already benefited over 10,000 children.
Real Bread Campaign ambassador Marcia Harris, based in Islington, north London, has been teaching students how to make real bread for several years. She has also guided them in cultivating wheat and plans to host bread-related workshops for parents and children. The goal is to make baking a core activity focusing on social and emotional development.
The campaign also encourages bakeries to run ‘pay-it-forward’ schemes that offer bread at more affordable prices to those on tight budgets. Chris Young, campaign coordinator since 2009, mentions that real bread can also be made at home for a few pence. He believes that real bread should not be a secret kept from kids or anyone.
Chris Young’s vision for the future of good bread involves ‘scaling out’ rather than ‘scaling up’. Instead of large corporations producing and selling various attempts at real bread, he envisions a network of micro-bakeries, working mills, and organic farms growing heritage grains at small scales. His optimism is reflected in his coined term ‘sourfaux’, and he’s inspired by the growth in regional grain networks across the UK and Ireland, which aim to produce ‘better bred bread’.
Aside from the Real Bread Campaign, Young highlights other inspirational initiatives such as the UK Grain Lab, the School of Artisan Food, The Clink, and Freedom bakeries, which train prisoners in baking. These initiatives are evidence, according to Young, that real bread is indeed on the rise.
