New York bakery Clare Caulfield

Clare Caulfield

The Real Bread Campaign’s Real Loaf Mark lets real bakers display a logo for a small annual fee, to further promote the baking and selling of real bread (includes sourdough loaves). You can also search their website for real independent bakers near you.

Most ‘fresh bakery’ stores in supermarkets are ‘loaf tanning salons’ that buy part-baked bread to heat in ovens. Most also contain palm oil and are wrapped in plastic. Real bread is made with water, flour, salt and yeast.

Keep fresh dough away from young children & pets (also keep bread ingredients like garlic, onion, dried fruit and salt away from pets). Read more on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen.

Don’t give leftover stale/mouldy/crusty bread to garden birds or wildfowl (due to salt again, also fat can smear on feathers, affecting waterproofing/insulation.

Real Bread Campaign recently launched a complaint to Trading Standards, as such loaves are not ‘freshly baked in store’. And are sold in portions bigger than can be used up by small households (leading to bread being one of the top food waste items).

What to Learn from French Boulangaries

boulangerie Clare Caulfield

In France, real bread is the norm. Bakers get up at 3am or so, and make dough from scratch. In fact, bakers are so important in France that they are not allowed to take holidays at the same time, they must be staggered so everyone can buy good bread.

In England, try to seek out a local bakery or farmers’ market, or try baking your own bread (you can cheat and get a small bread-making machine if you use it often). This mean the bread will be free from chemical improvers and other nasties.

Even if you can’t afford to shop at swanky farm shops, supporting your local indie bakery just once a week with a good loaf of bread makes all the difference.

Cities like New York also have a strong tradition of indie bakeries and cupcake shops, and not just uber-expensive deli bakeries like we have in London. Brownstone buildings in urban areas often sell home-baked treats, which you can smell early morning, the scents of homemade breads and pastries, wafting through the city air.

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