Real Bread Week is about celebrating real bread and the bakers that make it.
What Is Real Bread?
Real bread is bread that is has been made fresh, without additives or preservatives. It should contain only a handful of ingredients, flour, salt, water and starter or water.
If it's a sourdough it will have been made with a sourdough starter (no yeast) and should have been fermented over many hours.
Why The Controversy?
There's lots of issues with the bread is labelled and sold in the UK.
- There's no legal definition of 'sourdough' - so bread labelled as sourdough can include yeast and no actual sourdough starter.
- There's no legal definition of 'wholegrain' - a wholegrain loaf could contain just a few grams of wholemeal flour.
- "Freshly Baked" bread can be bread that was made months before, frozen and then simply reheated.
- There's no requirement to list ingredients for unwrapped loaves, meaning you don't know what additives have been used.
What Are Does The Campaign For Real Bread Do?
The Campaign for Real Bread is campaigning to change all this, lobbying to have the Honest Crust Act past to ensure real bakers are protected and customers know exactly what they're buying.
In addition they provide information and support for bakers, teach children where real bread comes from, organise events and write their own publication to raise awareness of what real bread is all about.