The Real Bread Campaign v The world

The Real Bread Campaign was founded by Andrew Whitley in 2008 and is proactivly managed by the now honourary of the Young British Foodie Award, Chris Young.

From its inception in 2008 it has risen (pardon the pun) from a small handfull of media releases to the emerging powerhouse behind a new revolution here in the UK, called The Real Bread Campaign.

The campaigns main goal is to promote the making and eating of bread in its most natural form, flour, yeast, water and salt. Throughout homes, schools and hospitals to name a few. To do this they are taking on the British Food Industry, the Food Standards agency, the Adverstising Standards Agency, the big supermarkets, the bread making companies and more recently the Federation of Bakers. In 2009 they called for Enzyme labelling on all bread packaging. Currently there are no laws permitting the use of enzyme labels on bread packaging, which gives us the consmer, no choice. The big bread brands covered in plastic that we eat from the Supermarkets are all made by using the Chorleywood Process. This process is quick, its harsh and made for mass consumption. The Federation of Bakers have released a study that claims buying pre packed bread from your supermarket saves ten minutes a day. But at what cost? through the mass manufacturing of bread as it stands, nutritonal values, taste and quality are all compromised.

Here are just a few of the additives used in your daily sliced packaged bread.

E481 (sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate), E472e (mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), E920 (l-cysteine), E282 (calcium propionate), E220 (potassium sorbate), E300 (ascorbic acid), E260 (acetic acid) soya flour, vegetable fat and dextrose.

I don't know about you but I don't even know what most of those chemicals are so who knows what the health implications are. There is already a growing generation of people who can no longer eat bread due to its indigestible properties.

With over 1,900 members, 17,400 followers on twitter and 3,200 on facebook The Real Bread Campaign is getting the word round. I for one think that throwing some flour, yeast, water and salt in a bowl and getting my hands sticky for a loaf is a great way to spend ten minutes. What about you?

http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/