Chef Michel Roux Jr said: ‘The Chorleywood Bread Process is past its sell-by date. It was in part to blame for the loss of the once great British baking industry and the disappearance of our local bakeries, which has been a factor in the sad demise of many a high street.’
Chris Young of the Campaign added: ‘The Chorleywood loaf has helped to destroy the jobs of many of the craftspeople who used to bake Real Bread for the nation. We mustn’t forget that the true cost of cheap loaves also includes the high price paid by local communities and economies.’
For the chance to win a Real Bread baker’s starter kit from Hobbs House Bakery (worth £85), people simply need to send their card designs to the Campaign by 10th June. The winner will be selected by judges including Michel Roux Jr; master bakers Tom Herbert and Andrew Whitley; and artist and writer Jake Tilson. Full competition details and rules can be found at www.realbreadcampaign.org
Named after the Hertfordshire town of its creator, the Flour Milling and Baking Research Association, CBP was launched in July 1961. It is now the means by which around 80% of the loaves we buy in the UK - some nine million units of artificial-additive-laden, wrapped, sliced stuff a day - are produced.
A growing number of studies suggest that Real Bread produced with longer fermentation times could have positive implications in certain aspects of health and nutrition, including digestibility. By contrast, CBP eliminates most of the fermentation time required by additive-free bread. The Campaign believes these loaves to be ‘unripe’ and questions whether this could have a detrimental effect.
Many people, however, don’t care about any of this: after all doesn’t Real Bread simply taste better?
Part of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme, the Real Bread Campaign champions locally-produced, 100% additive-free loaves, and finds ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Membership of the Real Bread Campaign is open to everyone who cares about the state of bread in Britain, full details of which can be found at www.realbreadcampaign.org
Source: Real Bread Campaign
