Campaign news

Some highlights of our continuing work in the fight for better bread in Britain.

Other sources of Real Bread news:

Twitter.com/RealBread (useful hashtags include #realbread , #sourdough, #baking)
True Loaf
Breadcrumbs
facebook.com/realbreadcampaign
Media releases

Campaign office volunteer needed
Gift membership launched: ideal for Christmas
WIN: Prizes include a Real Bread class at The Phoenix Bakery and Dan Lepard's new book
Wanted: Great British bakers
WIN a baking course with Andrew Whitley worth £415!
Britain says: ‘hidden loaf additives are unacceptable’
Campaign member competition: WIN a day baking sourdough with Dan Lepard worth £230
Salt: update
Real Bread: keeping below the salt to stay above par
Sourdough spokesman on Great British Food Cycle
Objecting to a GM wheat trial application
Win!
Many pappy returns (well, one)
Dame Kelly Holmes champions local bakeries
Time to plan your Local Loaves for Lammas
Help say ‘pappy birthday’ to the modern factory loaf
Real loaves down your local
Real Bread on BBC2
Real Bread Campaign book published
True Loaf 6 prize draw
Real Bread on the telly
Christmas competition
Greggs
Are supermarket bloomers pants?
Real Bread for London 2012 Olympic Games
Join The Rise of Real Bread
National Baking Week
Learning to bake Real Bread is part of The Bigger Picture
No More Silly Loaf Songs
Real Bread for Camden Kids
#sillyloafsongs
Membership scheme
Local Loaves for Lammas
Real Bread Campaign Wins The Lottery!
Processing Aids

Older news

Campaign office volunteer needed

9 December 2011

The Real Bread Campaign is seeking a volunteer to support its project officer.

Starting in January 2012, hopefully you will be able to volunteer for three months or more. Hours are flexible but ideally you will be able to volunteer for at least one full day a week. Other than the occasional event, the volunteer will be based at Sustain’s office in central London, close to Angel Tube station.

For full details and to apply, click here.

Gift membership launched: ideal for Christmas

8 November 2011

Yes, we’ve thought of a Christmas (or birthday, bar mitzvah, wedding, whatever) present so you don’t have to. For just £25 you can give the gift that keeps on giving - a year’s membership of the Real Bread Campaign. Giving the recipient four issues of True Loaf and twelve months of benefits, it's the gift that keeps on giving. For full details, click here.

Christmas hamper

1 November 2011

In an annual tradition, stretching all the way back to last year, we’ve collected together a hamperful of fantastic prizes for the discerning Real Bread lover.

With thanks to Aidan Chapman, The School of Artisan Food, 4th Estate, and Paul Williams, as a Campaign member you could win one of the following…

Learn to bake Real Bread at The Phoenix Bakery School
‘The Phoenix Bakery in Weymouth, Dorset runs the Monday Bakery School for anyone wanting to improve their own baking skills. Starting at 10am this is a no nonsense bread making day where you will learn to make the perfect sourdough culture with Aidan Chapman. You will also learn to make your own bread or pizza to enjoy over a relaxing lunch.’ (The prize is a voucher allowing you to book a date to suit you)

School of Artisan Food starter kit
Make your own Real Bread with the help of this baking bundle courtesy of The School of Artisan Food. Containing all you need to start producing delicious, wholesome and nutritious loaves, the kit includes: two mixing bowls, proving basket, dough scraper, baking blade, pastry brush, measuring jug, and a School of Artisan Food tea towel.

Short & Sweet – the new book by Dan Lepard
‘Dan Lepard is a baker and photographer who has worked with the likes of Ottolenghi, Giorgio Locatelli and Fergus Henderson. He is the author of The Handmade Loaf and has a very popular baking column in the Guardian. With this utterly dependable how-to-bake book you’ll be baking cakes, pastries, breads and cookies like never before.’ 4th Estate, £25, out now

An unique bread board from Woods World Wide by Williams
‘Beautifully crafted, handmade chopping boards finished with food-safe oils that are suitable for both vegans and those with nut allergies. Each board is unique, hand crafted by Paul Williams from a single piece of wood chosen for the natural grain. Each board varies in size and shape due to the natural material used.’

For your chance to win one of the prizes above, simply tell us in 300 words or fewer what Real Bread means to you. The author of our favourite will win the baking class and we’ll work our way down the prize list.

Campaign members: please see the current edition of True Loaf for how to send your entry.

The small print…

The competition is open to Real Bread Campaign members
All entries must be received 6 December and winners will be notified the same day
Only one entry per Campaign member and one prize per person
Once a winner has been picked for a prize, all remaining correct entries will go through to the draw for the next prize and so on
We reserve the right to publish any entry in True Loaf, Breadcrumbs or on our website
Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or an alternative prize

Wanted: Great British bakers

26 October 2011

The Great British Bake Off is back and they’re looking for home bakers to take part in the third series.

Can you bake a brilliant spiced bun, ice an exceptional celebration cake or turn out a fiery ginger bread?
Do you fancy putting your skills to the test? Or know someone that might?

To find out more contact the GBBO team: baking@loveproductions.co.uk or 0207 067 4823 Or for an application form, go to: www.loveproductions.co.uk

NB To apply you must be over 16 on 1st February 2012. As an ‘amateur baker’ your main source of income cannot come from commercial baking in a professional environment and you cannot have ever worked full-time as a baker or chef. You cannot have acquired any formal NVQ or other professional catering qualifications in the past 10 years.

WIN a baking course with Andrew Whitley worth £415!

18 October 2011

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED

Bread Matters has just offered Real Bread Campaign members a prize that frankly makes the person writing this just a little bit jealous - a two-day wholegrain baking class with Bread Matters author and Campaign co-founder Andrew Whitley THIS WEEKEND (22 & 23 October 2011) worth £415!!

How do you make sure that nutritious wholegrain also means delicious, especially for the less adventurous members of the family? Fortunately, Andrew Whitley has considerable experience in achieving this balance, having started baking for a living over thirty years ago using only wholemeal flour stoneground from English wheat. Whatever your experience or skills, if you want to learn how to make everyday breads that bring out the best in both you and your ingredients, wholegrain baking is for you.

On this course, you make bread with your own hands from flour to loaf. Complete beginners are given a sound introduction, while those with some experience improve their range and understand, often for the first time, why things work the way they do (or sometimes don't). We cover the five crucial stages of proper breadmaking – mixing, fermenting, shaping, proving and baking – by way of basic yeasted and sourdough breads. Then we move on to other recipes, each demonstrating a different and delicious way of using the fermentation process.

After two days you take home everything you have baked, perhaps a little sourdough to leaven future breads and, almost certainly, a whole new understanding of what good bread is and how to make it at home.

All meals are provided, including dinner on the evening of the first day. Numbers are limited, so everyone gets good guidance. There is plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion brings insights into the wider world of bread and health, often arising from Andrew’s experience of starting and running the Village Bakery for over twenty five years. The surroundings are intimate and yet professional, the atmosphere purposeful yet relaxed.

The Course will be held at Bread Matters, West Linton, Peeblesshire, Scotland

For more details, visit breadmatters.com

To enter

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED

The first correct answer from a Campaign member drawn from our flour jar will win and be notified before 6pm on Thursday 20 October.

We really want to make sure that this great prize goes to someone who can make the most of it, so please only enter if you know you'll be able to make it to the class for the weekend.

T&C

Competition only open to current Real Bread Campaign members
Entries received after 12 noon on Thursday 20 October won't be entered into the draw
Prize not transferrable and not exchangeable for cash or an alternative prize
Only one entry per Campaign member
The prize is as outlined above and does not include transport or accommodation
The prize is offered by Bread Matters, not the Real Bread Campaign

Sorry but as we anticipate a lot of entries, we won’t have chance to reply to membership queries.

NB New members joining the Real Bread Campaign after 12 noon on Thursday 20 October won’t be able to enter, but will have the chance to enter future competitions. The October-December issue of True Loaf gives members the chance to win a bread making class at The Phoenix Bakery School (worth £100); a baking starter kit from The School of Artisan Food; Short and Sweet – the new book by Dan Lepard; or a handmade bread board from Woods World Wide by Williams.

Britain says: ‘hidden loaf additives are unacceptable’

1 October 2011

A new survey by the Real Bread Campaign of 1300 people around the UK found that:

more than 71% of us believe it’s unacceptable that food additives known as ‘processing aids’ don’t have to appear on an ingredients list
more than 70% of us believe it’s unacceptable that an ingredient/additives list doesn’t have to be displayed for unwrapped loaves

Whilst continuing to fight for greater transparency, on 3rd October the Real Bread Campaign launches The Real Bread Loaf Mark. This allows people on the go to see at-a-glance that a baker says 'this is Real Bread,' which 85% of respondents to the survey, carried out by Toluna QuickSurveys, said would be useful.

Real Bread Campaign co-ordinator Chris Young said: ‘These results support the Campaign’s call for an Honest Crust Act. The people of Britain have the right to know what goes into the loaves we buy. When shopping we should have the chance to make fully-informed choices about the food we feed our families. Sadly, some manufacturers and retailers choose to hide unnecessary additives behind current EU legislation depriving us of this basic right. Surely Britain can do better than that?’

Survey results

More details of the online survey of 1300 British residents created by the Real Bread Campaign through Toluna QuickSurveys and carried out on 19th September 2011:

Gender: Female = 61%, Male = 39%
Age: 35-54 = 44.92%, 18-34 = 34.23%, 55+ = 20.85%

Do you eat some sort of bread at least once a week?: Yes = 94%, No = 6%
If any sort of artificial additives have been used when making a loaf, do you believe that all of these should be shown on the ingredients list?: Yes = 76.62%, No = 9.23%, Don’t care = 14.15%
Did you know that a manufacturer can use a category of food additive called a processing aid (often an added enzyme) when making a loaf but not mention this on the ingredients list?: No = 71.38%, Yes = 28.62%
Do you believe that this is: acceptable = 28.62%, unacceptable = 71.38%
Did you know that supermarkets and other places selling unwrapped loaves do not have to display a list of ingredients and any additives that might have been used?: No = 56%, Yes = 44%
Do you believe that this is: acceptable = 29.15%, unacceptable = 70.85%
Do you think that a symbol/logo to show that a loaf has been made without any artificial additives or processing aids would be: very useful = 47.46%, quite useful = 37.23%, not useful = 4.62%, not sure = 10.69%

For more on additives and labelling click here.

Campaign member competition: WIN a day baking sourdough with Dan Lepard worth £230

21 September 2011

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED

The Cookery School on Little Portland St in London has just offered Real Bread Campaign members a fab prize – a sourdough baking class THIS SATURDAY (24th September 2011) with Dan Lepard, worth £230!!

The Handmade Loaf author and Guardian baking guru will cover how to create and keep a healthy leaven (or starter), then teach you expert techniques for mixing, kneading and shaping the dough, through to the finished loaves coming out of the oven. Dan will show you how to achieve the crust, crumb, taste and texture you've aspired to, along with a host of tips and tricks. After lunch , a second class on shaping skills, a recap on what's been learned during the day, and a Q&A session. Numbers will be limited to 14 people, to ensure that Dan is able to work with each of you individually. You will leave with your loaves, a pot of Dan's own leaven and a lot of new skills that you will be able to put into practice at home.

This class runs from 9am prompt to at least 4pm and includes lunch at The Cookery School, class notes, leaven and recipes.

www.cookeryschool.co.uk

To enter

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED

The first correct answer from our flour jar will win and be notified on Friday.

T&C

Competition only open to current Real Bread Campaign members
Last processing of new member applications before the competition closes will be 12 noon on Thursday 22nd September
Prize not exchangeable for cash or an alternative prize
Only one entry per Campaign member
The prize is as outlined above and does not include transport, accommodation, other meals etc.
The prize is offered by The Cookery School, not the Real Bread Campaign

Sorry but as we anticipate a lot of entries, we won’t have chance to reply to requests for membership number reminders – it’s on your card and welcome email…

NB New members joining the Real Bread Campaign after 12 noon on Thursday 22nd September won’t be able to enter, but will have the chance to enter future competitions. The October-December issue of True Loaf gives members the chance to win a bread making class at The Phoenix Bakery School (worth £100); a baking starter kit from The School of Artisan Food; Short and Sweet – the new book by Dan Lepard; or a handmade bread board from Woods World Wide by Williams.

Salt: update

13 September 2011

Further to the story below and the CASH survey, here are responses from some of the Real Bread bakers mentioned - and one who wasn't.

Cranks "Cranks continuously monitors its salt levels across the entire product range and is always exploring ways to reduce the levels of salt present, taking measures to see where they can be reduced and improved upon.Cranks Bread is 100% organic and made without the use of emulsifiers, enzymes, mould inhibitors or time dough additives, using only 100% natural recipe ingredients, baking methods and traditional fermentation processes.Cranks will continue to review the salt content in its bread without compromising the Cranks quality ethos and the natural processes used in its product development."

PAUL UK Ltd has advised that some figures on its website, upon which some of the information published by CASH in its salt survey was based, was incorrect. PAUl has said that figures stated as salt levels were in fact sodium levels, and so salt levels in some PAUL loaves were considerably lower than published in the CASH report. Notwithstanding this, PAUL annouced an immediate salt reduction of 14% and ongoing work with CASH to reduce further.

Paul's Bakery (AKA Pauls and Paul's), the independent organic bakery in Melton Mowbray, would like to point out that it is in no way connected with the PAUL UK Ltd chain. CASH did not look at Paul's Bakery loaves for its study and the baker has advised that not only do his loaves all meet the FSA's 1% salt target, he also offers customers the option of being able to order loaves baked without salt at all.

Vogel's published this statement.

Real Bread: keeping below the salt to stay above par

2 September 2011

Real Bread bakers around the country have given the Real Bread Campaign a hearty response to a survey of salt levels.

In just 24 hours, more than 50 Real Bread bakeries have told the Campaign of the hundreds of lines of Real Bread with 1% salt or less (by loaf weight) that they bake between them.

As each bakery was asked to give just one example in each of four categories of bread, the number of lower-salt loaves they bake is likely to be much higher.

Since its launch in November 2008, the Real Bread Campaign has encouraged all bakers to keep salt levels in their loaves down to the Food Standards Agency’s target of 1%, or below. In order to help shoppers, bakers listing their loaves on the Real Bread Finder are invited to note which loaves meet this target.

Advice for bakers on the Campaign’s website and book Knead to Know, the guide to baking Real Bread for a local community, includes information on reducing salt levels, including a link to the FSA’s online salt calculator.

One benefit of membership of the Real Bread Campaign is access to The Real Baker-e, an online forum in which members can ask questions and share advice with each other, such as ways to reduce salt levels.

The Real Bread Campaign calls for the provision of full ingredients and nutritional information, including salt levels, at point of sale (e.g. on product or shelf labelling) to be made mandatory for supermarket in-store bakery and other unwrapped loaves, a position today echoed by Consensus Action on Salt and Health.

Whilst we support the aims of the CASH report, we want to highlight that it only looked at loaves from just five high street bakeries. This part of the study was not therefore - as some media reports could be interpreted as saying - representative of the high street bakery sector as a whole. We also draw people's attention to the other issues that challenge the rise of bread that is better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet.

Notes

The Real Bread Campaign's online survey was carried out between the afternoons of 1st and 2nd September 2011

The question asked was: “For each of the categories below, please enter the % salt in the loaf with the lowest amount. e.g. if you bake one 400g white loaf with 6g (1.5%) of salt and another with 4g (1%) of salt, select the figure 1. NB - this figure is % salt by BAKED LOAF WEIGHT, not baker's %”

White
Wholemeal
Brown (brown, granary, wheatgerm, seeded, oats, 50/50)
Other (speciality breads, ethnic breads, rye, sourdough etc)

Bakeries questioned were those that have created records in the Campaign’s Real Bread Finder

Sourdough spokesman on Great British Food Cycle

1 August 2011

Starting on Lammas Day, throughout August a very nice chap called Tim Keates is making the Great British Food Cycle on a 1930's butcher's bike from John O'Groats to Land's End. He's offering to pick up and drop off deliveries from small, independent food/drink producers en route.

In addition, he's agreed to be a sourdough spokesman (geddit? spokes...never mind) and plans to carry a pot of Campaign co-founder Andrew Whitley's sourdough starter, passing this on to as many people along the way as possible - but this can only happen if we find bakers for him.

So - if you are in any of the towns listed, would you be interested in grabbing some starter (refreshing the pot as you do so) and using it - perhaps for use in running a sourdough class for people locally, or even baking a loaf? Could be a great chance to get in the local paper.

If so, please email realbread [at] sustainweb.org with your contact details, how you propose to get involved and where, and we'll pass this on to Tim.

NB - Tim is cycling long and hard every day, so might not be able to reply to everyone who gets in touch. He won't be able to stop for more than a few minutes to give you some starter (and have a picture taken with you by the local paper, or short interview with local radio/TV if you can arrange it...) on his way through. A night on the town isn't on the cards, either...

PS - if anyone is experienced in driving a van and prepared to drive his support vehicle for a day or more, or has a sofa/bed to spare, he'd be v grateful...

Visit YouTube for the Great British Food Cycle preview

Tim's planned itinerary

1st Aug John O' Groats to Helmsdale
2nd Helmsdale to Inverness
3rd Inverness to Forres or Elgin (TBC)
4th Elgin to Huntly
5th Huntly to Aberdeen
6th Aberdeen to Arbroath (area)
7th Arbroath to Edinburgh

8th Rest day

9th Edinburgh to Coldstream (area)

10th rest day

11th Coldstream to Morpeth (area)
12th Morpeth to Durham/Bishop Auckland (area)
13th Durham to Harrogate
14th Harrogate to Stockport

15th rest day

16th Stockport to Wrexham
17th Wrexham to Newtown (area)
18th Newtown to Hereford

19th rest day

20th Hereford to Witney (area)
21st Witney to London

22nd, rest day & TV shoot

24th London to Wokingham (area)
25th Wokingham to Trowbridge (area)
26th Trowbridge to Taunton (area)
27th Taunton to West Dartmoor (unspecific)

28th rest day

29th Dartmoor to St. Austell/Truro
30th Truro to Journey's End -Land's End

Objecting to a GM wheat trial application

29 July 2011

The deadline for objections is 19 August 2011.

Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire has applied to conduct a field trial of genetically modified (GM) bread wheat in 2012 and 2013 (reference 11/R8/01).

The wheat has been genetically modified to produce hormonal chemicals known as 'alarm signals' to decoy aphids away from the crop.

The current GM wheat project has received over £1.28 million in public (i.e. taxpayers') money via grants awarded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The not-for-profit organisation GM Freeze suggests the following to be amongst reasons why people might wish to object:

There should be a broad public debate on the use of synthetic copies animal genes in crop plants before any further research is permitted.
There is currently no market for GM wheat in the UK, EU or eleswhere.
More research is needed into whether the continuous production of EBF in general, and by wheat in particular, will be effective in controlling cereal aphids in the long term. Such research can and should be carried out with non-GM plants naturally producing EMF, such as peppermint. The GM wheat may be substantially different from its non-GM parent due to the impacts of the genetic modification, for instanct there could be altered allergenicity and toxicity. There would be no point in trialing a crop that could late prove to be unsafe.
The applicant admits having no basic data about any genetic changes arising from the GM events or any toxicity or allergenicity data of the chemicals to be produced by the wheat plant.
The presence of the marker genes for resistance to kanamycin brings an unacceptable risk that the gene may horiozinatlly transfer to pathogenic bacterium thereby rendering the antibiotic ineffective against some diseases. The application should be rejected for this alone in line with EU law.
There is no proper environmental impact assessment of the potential direct and indirect or long-term impact of the aphid alarm pheromone on target and non-target organisms and on the environment, including in the soil.
The impacts of the aphid pheromone EBA on prey and predator behaviour are not fully addressed.
The glufosinate ammonium tolerant marker gene could, at any stage, be used as an agronomic trait in a commercial variety to allow this herbicide to be used on a growing crop to kill off weeds. This would increase the risk of indirect harm to non-target species and potentially lead to the development of resistant weeds, which would require more herbicides to control them and with that an increase on the toxic burden on the environment.
Alternative approaches to controlling aphids which fit into an agroecological model of farming have not been fully explored despite showing considerable potential.
Any unspent funds from the £1.28 million of public money allocated to the GM wheat should be used to research agroecological based solutions to aphid control on cereals, and no further money should be wasted on developing and testing false solutions.

The deadline for objections passed on 19 August 2011.

Read more

You can read about the issues surrounding this trial application in greater detail at the GM Freeze website here

Update

On 31 August 2011, we received the following email from Defra:

'We acknowledge receipt of your representation to the GM Team in Defra regarding release application 11/R8/01 from Rothamsted Research, which was received under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations 2002.

The comments and concerns which you have raised will be collated along with all representations received by the Secretary of State relating to this application. Within 28 days of the granting of consent to or rejecting this application to release a GMO, copies of representations received will be made available to the public via the public register which is held by Defra at Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2AL. If the authors of representations have asked us to treat them as confidential they will not be placed on the public register.'

Win!

15 July 2011

Real Bread Campaign ambassador Emmanuel Hadjiandreou has certainly earned his stripes, with over twenty five years’ experience in professional bakeries around the world. Currently passing on some of his skills at the School of Artisan Food, Emmanuel has also taken advantage of his move away from nocturnal working to sit down and put just some of his wealth of knowledge down on paper.

The result is How to Make Bread, which is published in September by Ryland Peters and Small. Illustrated with more than 350 photographs, the book takes the home baker step-by-step through breads from a basic white loaf, to bagels, stollen, and sourdough.

Campaign members can find details of how to win a copy in the latest issue of True Loaf or on here our competitions page.

Many pappy returns (well, one)

11 July 2011

On Saturday 9th July, the Real Bread Campaign took a Chorleywood ‘Bread’ Process (CBP) loaf back from whence it came for its long-overdue retirement.

It was in July 1961 that the British Baking Industries Research Association launched, from its base in the Hertfordshire village of Chorleywood, the process by which around 80% of the loaves we buy are still made. The former BBIRA building now houses the Beaumont House Care Home, and it was to there that Real Bread Campaign co-founder Andrew Whitley and Campaign member Vanessa Holloway returned a CBP loaf.

We think this was a great fun way to get across a serious message: that after half a century, the additive-laced, no-time factory loaf has had its day. We believe that the true costs, hiding behind what at the till might appear to be a low price tag, are too high. For the sake of taste, skilled local jobs, our high streets and perhaps even our health, it’s time for us all help to bring Real Bread back to the hearts of our local communities!

Local residents’ taste buds agreed: in a blind taste test* on the day between a factory loaf and a loaf of Real Bread from Chorleywood-based Strattons Bakery, over 72% said that they preferred the taste of the Real Bread.

We were flattered that Gordon Polson (director of the Federation of Bakers), Alex Waugh (director of the National Association of British and Irish Millers), Stanley Cauvain (author of the book 'The Chorleywood Bread Process') and the comms manager of Warburtons, amongst others from the world of big baking/milling, turned up. We're not sure whether or not any of them took the test, though.

Meanwhile, Dilly Boase took charge of the mobile wood-fired oven, kindly leant to us by Paul Jones of Melton Mowbray, to give local people the chance to demonstrate their flair for baking Real Bread, and for kids to make their own pizzas.

Thanks to everyone who helped out on the day (including Pete who delivered the oven and then did sterling oven duty), and to Cinnamon Square for donating a basket of Real bread to take to the care home, and Neal's Yard for donating the pizza cheese.

As noted on our FAQs page, a growing number of studies suggest that Real Bread produced with longer dough fermentation times (especially in the presence of sourdough culture) could have positive implications in certain aspects of health and nutrition, including digestibility. By contrast, CBP employs artificial additives – some deemed ‘processing aids’ and legally not listed on the label – to cut the proving time down to tens of minutes. We believe the resulting dough to be ‘unripe’ and asks whether this could have a detrimental effect on more than just flavour.

Download a card to say pappy birthday to the CBP loaf now!

Click here to see pictures from the day.

Click here to see our home movie of the retirement

* 50 out of the 69 people who took the blind taste test at the Campaign’s stand chose Real Bread.

Dame Kelly Holmes champions local bakeries

21 June 2011

Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes has voiced her support for local loaves.

Speciality Food Magazine yesterday quoted her as saying 'I believe wholeheartedly in championing activity within local communities, whether that’s via sport or by supporting local businesses. A healthy and busy central hub is essential to the wellbeing of all. My local baker, for example, sells wonderful tasty products that I simply can’t do without. We should all make a conscious effort during this year’s National Craft Bakers’ Week to visit our local baker.'

Hear, hear! we say, though would add - why wait for September, or even Lammas? Support your local community by getting along to the nearest independent Real Bread bakery today!

To find a list of which bakers have told us that they make what we call Real Bread (i.e. made without the use of any artificial additives, which sadly even some high street bakeries do use), please visit our Real Bread Finder. If you spot that a bakery you know is missing, the next time you are in, please pass on our invitation to add their Real Bread to our map.

One final note, whilst we fully support initiatives that encourage people to buy local loaves, we're sad that the sponsors of this particular one have over the past two years included several producers and suppliers of artifical additives.

Time to plan your Local Loaves for Lammas

16 May 2011

The Real Bread Campaign is offering to help bakers, restaurateurs, millers, bakery teachers and everyone else who supports the rise of Real Bread to let the country know about their Local Loaves for Lammas.

Taking place on and around 1st August, the initiative is the Campaign's major annual drive to encourage everyone in Britain to buy a locally-produced additive-free loaf, or to bake one at home.

Chris Young of the Campaign says: 'To get involved in Local Loaves for Lammas, simply do something that works for your business but which is a little bit different - perhaps bake a Real Bread to a special recipe, ideally one made from flour milled as locally as possible from grain grown as locally as possible, or maybe you could run a class to help people to bake their own. Then all you need to do is post the details for free to the events calendar on our website www.realbreadcampaign.org'

Since the Campaign launched the initiative in 2009, they have heard from many companies and organisations that being part of Local Loaves for Lammas has helped to boost not only the number of customers through their doors on the day, but also awareness-raising local media coverage.

People interested in getting involved can find ideas and inspiration from previous years' activities on the Local Loaves for Lammas pages in the events section of www.realbreadcampaign.org

Help say ‘pappy birthday’ to the modern factory loaf

12 April 2011

softer longer

July 2011 sees the 50th anniversary of the Chorleywood ‘Bread’ Process (CBP), and the Real Bread Campaign wants your help to say ‘pappy 50th birthday’ to the modern industrial loaf by designing a card.

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.’

Artist Jake Tilson added: ‘Art and design have always played an important role in campaigning and opinion-forming. This is a great opportunity to create an iconic design to challenge a major icon of synthetic food.'

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; artist and writer Jake Tilson; and master bakers Tom Herbert and Andrew Whitley.

NB - This Competition is now closed. The winner will be announced at the Chorleywood Village Day on 9th July and available from realbreadcampaign.org as an ecard from 11th July.

Real loaves down your local

7 April 2011

On Friday 17th June 2011, family-owned brewery Everards of Leicester invites Real Bread bakers to a taster of Project Artisan.

Join members of the Everards team, other artisan food and drink producers, and folks from the School of Artisan Food and the Real Bread Campaign from 6.30-9pm at The Royal Oak in Kirkby Muxloe, near Leicester, to hear about opportunities and the chance to chat. They’ll even throw in a drink and nibbles…

The new scheme aims to help artisan food and drink producers bring life back to redundant buildings located next to some of Everards’ pubs, and real food to the communities they serve. Bakers and other producers have the opportunity to rent a building that suits them, and Everards will support them to develop the businesses.

Project Artisan builds upon the experience gained by Everards in supporting tenants at 172 pubs, and specifically from Project William. Since 2007 Everards has been acquiring unloved locals, investing in them and working with artisan brewers to create brewery taps. At the centre of each redevelopment is the tenant brewer driving forward the sales of their own ales. Everards offers the capital and business support, with the artisan brewer contributing the real sense of community and local retailing flair on top of their real ales. Project William currently works with twelve small brewers across the midlands, some of who will be at the event on the 17th, and the innovation has been recognised by the Society of Independent Brewers.

If you’d like to join us at this Everards and Artisans evening, RSVP to Helen Parker at Everards by Friday 10th June: hp@everards.co.uk or 0116 201 4137

If you have any questions about Project Artisan or Project William, please contact Stephen Gould stephengould@everards.co.uk or 07801 610 940

www.everards.co.uk

Real Bread on BBC2

4th March 2011

The first episode of the new BBC2 series, the Great British Food Revival, broadcast at 8pm on Wedensday 9th March, is all about Real Bread. The show features Michel Roux Jr meeting Campaign working party member John Letts of The Oxford Bread Group, Campaign member Ben Mackinnon of e5 bakehouse, Campaign working party member Emmanuel Hadjiandreou at The School of Artisan Food, and Chris Young from the Real Bread Campaign office. Click here for more details.

Real Bread Campaign book published

18th January 2011

Today, we publish Knead to Know: the Real Bread starter. This book is the guide to success in baking Real Bread for your local community. Inside its covers, you'll find 140 pages of information on ingredients, basic recipes, techniques, business models, marketing, media relations, legislation, money matters, equipment, apprenticeships, courses, equipment and ingredient suppliers, further reading, and much more. Knead to Know is available here, with a 33% discount for Campaign members.

True Loaf 6 prize draw

January 2011

Join award-winning baker Emmanuel Hadjiandreou at The School of Artisan Food on 3rd April for a one-day European baking class, worth £150!. Emmanuel will share his considerable experience as he helps you bake French fougasse, Italian grissini and German sunflower rye bread. Light refreshments and lunch included.

For a chance to win a place in the class, Campaign members simply need to complete the survey enclosed with issue 6 of True Loaf (also availible in the members' area of the website) and return it to the Real Bread Campaign to reach us no later than Monday 14th March 2011.

All entries must be received by midday on Monday 14th March 2011 and winners will be notified the same day. The course date is fixed and the prize is not transferable or exchangeable for cash or an alternative prize. The prize is the class only. Transport to/from the venue and all other costs will be at your own expense. Sorry but new members joining after midday on 11th March won't get the chance to enter this time round.

Real Bread on the telly

25th October 2010

Starting on 2nd November, Turn Back Time - The High Street on BBC1 will see a group of real life shopkeeping families finding out what their lives might have been like had they lived in different eras, from the 1870s to the 1970s. The six-part show features the family of Real Bread baker Caroline Frampton, with expert guidance provided by Campaign working party member Tom Herbert.

Christmas Competition

22nd October 2010

This Competition has now closed but we're planning more for future issues of True Loaf.

As if you needed an more reason to join the Real Bread Campaign, this should have you dropping everything to do so rightaway.

The latest issue of True Loaf, the membership magazine for Real Bread Campaign members, features some amazing, money-can't-buy prizes. Well, okay, money can buy them but if you win then you won't have to buy it. Erm, shall I just get on with it?

All you have to do is answer a simple question by 25th November and you could win one of the following:

River Cottage course – worth £170!
One place on the course on 12th December (10am-5pm) at River Cottage HQ in the Devon/Dorset borders with master baker Aidan Chapman. Includes informal lunch and a copy of the River Cottage Bread Handbook by Daniel Stephens.

Apprenticeship Saturday at Phoenix Bakery, Weymouth – worth £150!
It’s that man again…a full shift (3am till 2pm) on 22nd January working with Campaign member, Aidan Chapman, on a variety of aspects of being an artisan baker, such as sourdoughs, long fermentation breads to puff pastry, croissants cakes etc. One for the aspiring professional, rather than happy-to-stay-amateur.

Real Bread baker’s starter kit – worth £128!
A bundle of joy from Bakery Bits, including a refractory clay baking stone, a peel, two cane bannetons (proving baskets), a pair of dough scrapers, a Mure & Peyrot grignette (a thingy used to slash the top of loaves) and a copy of The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard.

English Bread and Yeast Cookery
Grub Street’s October 2010 reissue of Elizabeth David’s classic.

Dough
A copy of the paperback edition of Campaign ambassador Richard Bertinet’s, award-winning first book.

Phew! Good, huh?

How to enter

This Competition has now closed but we're planning more for future issues of True Loaf.

Which item on the following list is the only one that is an essential ingredient in Real Bread?

A) Fungal alpha amylase
B) Ascorbic acid
C) Flour
D) Sodium stearoyl lactylate
E) Diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono and diglycerides of fatty acids

And if you're not yet a member, then join us now!

Greggs

12th October 2010

With over 1400 branches around the UK, Greggs is the biggest 'craft baker' in the country, so we decided to ask them for details of which loaves are what the Campaign defines as Real Bread and in which outlets they are baked from scratch on site. We submitted this via their online customer feedback form on 22 July 2010 and got an auto response that said we would receive a reply in three working days. As you may guess from the date of this entry, getting a full answer took a little longer than that. To follow the rest of the story, visit our FAQs page.

Are supermarket bloomers pants?

27th March 2010

A nine-month investigation by the Real Bread Campaign found the in-store bakeries of only one major supermarket chain producing any Real Bread.

Following repeated questioning of six major UK supermarket chains between June 2009 and February 2010, only Marks & Spencer advised that some of its in-store bakery loaves met the very simple Real Bread criteria of being made without the use of processing aids or any other artificial additives.

Amongst other findings, the report also highlights that many supermarket in-store bakeries do not bake every loaf fresh from scratch on-site but bake-off dough or part-baked loaves produced elsewhere. According to an article in British Baker magazine, bake-off production: ‘…demands around twice the energy of conventional breadmaking...’ Despite this, as in-store bakeries are classed as primary production sites, they qualify for financial incentives from government, paid for by taxpayers, through lucrative Climate Change Agreements.

The Real Bread Campaign believes that people have the right to know just how in-store bakery loaves are being produced. Without this knowledge, how can we make fully informed choices between purchasing them or opting for Real Bread from local independent bakeries or our own ovens?

Due to labelling law, customers are unable to know what additives have been used in the production of in-store bakery loaves unless they ask.

You can download the report Are supermarket bloomers pants? here .

Update 14 May 2011: The Grocer magazine has reported that sales of in-store bakery loaves dropped by £9million (a fall of 7.3% by value, 6.2% by volume) in 2010. Could our report and the awareness generated by it have contributed to this?

Real Bread for London 2012 Olympic Games

13 January 2010
Calling Real Bread bakers in and around London.

The 2012 Olympic Village alone will use something like 25,000 loaves - can you help to ensure that they are all Real Bread?

The organisers of the London 2012 Olympic Games have said that food supply and catering opportunities for London 2012 will start to be advertised in the next couple of weeks. It is therefore urgent for any food supplier or catering business wishing to participate in the London 2012 Games to register their business with the CompeteFor.com website to be able to benefit from these opportunities.

This site is where tender information, news and opportunities will be publicised and one of the key ways in which larger caterers can connect with a range of smaller suppliers of food and services.

Suppliers that can meet the assurance and sustainability standards listed in the London 2012 Food Vision (see link below) are particularly encouraged to register.

Business registration and links for regional opportunities
News of the key opportunities
Further information about Olympic food standards

CompeteFor now have over 100,000 businesses registered on CompeteFor, 30,000 of which are based in London. Around 74% of contracts awarded so far have been placed with SME businesses and 18% of them have gone to businesses with 10 or fewer staff.

The Rise of Real Bread: Changing Britain’s Daily Loaf

23 October 2009
Do you care about the state of bread in Britain? On Saturday 14th November, the Real Bread Campaign is joining forces with LandShare CIC and the Oxford Bread Group to invite everyone who does to join us St Anne’s College in Oxford for a day of debate, discussion and saffron buns.

The Rise of Real Bread will bring together growers, millers, bakers, educators, activists and consumers from around the country for an exploration into the murky secrets of industrial loaves and how we all can contribute to the continuing renaissance of all-natural Real Bread.

Chaired by Sheila Dillon of the Radio 4 Food Programme, speakers at this enjoyable and informative all day event include:

•    Rob Alderson - Unicorn Grocery
•    William Black – food writer, anthropologist and founder of The Natural Bread Company
•    Felicity Lawrence - special correspondent for The Guardian, author of Not on the Label and Eat Your Heart Out
•    John Letts - archeo-botanist, thatcher and founder of The Oxford Bread Group
•    Dan and Johanna McTiernan – owners of The Handmade Bakery
•    Colin Tudge - writer and biologist, author of Feeding People is Easy
•    Andrew Whitley - author of Bread Matters and co-founder of The Real Bread Campaign
•    Bee Wilson - food writer, historian and Sunday Telegraph food columnist
•    Martin Wolfe – Research Director, The Organic Research Centre

In a journey following the grain chain past, present and future from seed to sandwich, discussion titles include: wheat for the future; a history of bread making and the state of the modern loaf; what’s so good about Real Bread?; an introduction to community bakeries; and Real Bread is only for the rich and/or those with time on their hands.

After the event, everyone is invited to continue the conversation over a Real Bread feast at the nearby Freud Café.

For the full programme and to buy tickets (which include including lunch and refreshments) for the event, visit www.landshare.org/events/index.phpor call 01865 516585 for a postal application form.

National Baking Week

15th October 2009
National Baking Week runs from 19th-25th October and this year, organisers are encouraging everyone to Bake and Share. What better to Bake and Share than Real Bread? http://www.nationalbakingweek.co.uk/recipes/111/real-bread-rolls

Learning to bake Real Bread is part of The Bigger Picture

5th October 2009
On Saturday 24th October, we are offering visitors to the new economics foundation’s Festival of Interdependence the chance of free, hands-on Real Bread making lessons with an award-wining master baker.

Real Bread Campaign working party member, Paul Barker of Cinnamon Square in Rickmansworth, will share expert but easy tips, which you get to try for yourself. You will leave with not only your own delicious loaf of Real Bread but the skills to bake many more at home. Chris Young of the campaign will also be along chat about its aims, its work and how people can join the fight.

The Festival of Interdependence is part of The Bigger Picture, a creative series of events in response to current crises. The aim of the festival is to inspire and unite people across borders and boundaries. It brings together thinkers, artists, activists, poets and musicians for a day of learning, making, doing, celebrating and debating. As well as grappling with the daunting array of social, economic, political and environmental challenges we face, the festival will provide visitors with a glimpse of how a new economic system, which puts people and the planet first, could look and how to start the great transition to get there.

The two Real Bread sessions will start at 11am and 1pm, with each lasting about an hour. Participants can return to collect their loaves from about an hour and a half after the end of their session.

Sign up for limited places will take place on the morning of the event on a first come, first served basis.

nef Festival of Interdependence, Saturday 24th October, 11.00am – 6pm, Bargehouse Oxo Tower London SE1 9PH MAP

Nearest tube: Southwark, Blackfriars or Waterloo

http://www.thebiggerpicture2009.org/

No More Silly Loaf Songs

2nd October 2009
Well, the Real Bread Campaign did ask the Twittersphere for bad puns and with a year’s free membership at stake, boy, did we get them.

We sliced down dozens of truly dreadful (breadful?) Silly Loaf Songs to following shortlist of a baker’s dozen:

•    Another One Bites The Crust – Queen
•    Bread Bread Wine -UB40
•    Ciabatta Out Of Hell - Malt Loaf
•    Achy Bakey Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus
•    Knead You Tonight - INXS
•    It's a Naan's World - James Brown
•    Hit Me Bagel One More Time – Britney Spears
•    Muffin Compares 2U – Sinead O’Connor
•    I put a spelt on you – Nina Simone / Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
•    Rye Do Fools Fall In Loaf? – Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
•    Crumb Together – The Beatles
•    Crust The Way You Are - Barry White
•    Oliver's Sarnie - Hovis Costello
•    Never Baguette - Bake That

For inflicting upon the world Ciabatta Out of Hell by Malt Loaf, Mark McKellier (@McKellier) has won a year’s membership to the Real Bread Campaign. Though we had only offered one prize, in respect of going above and beyond the call of duty by unleashing a veritable torrent of farinaceous folly, Guy Snape (@BreadSecrets), has been named joint winner.

You can find the full list of entries can be found on Twitter using the hashtag #sillyloafsongs

Real Bread for Camden Kids

1st October 2009
On Saturday 10th October, kids in the London borough of Camden are invited to a FREE hands-on Real Bread workshop at Kentish Town City Farm.

Each group will have two sessions, one to make the dough and learn a bit about Real Bread and the next about an hour later to shape the dough into buns. Participants can either come back a couple of hours later to collect the baked rolls or take the dough home to bake.

Group one will start just after 11am and group two at around 11.30am. Places are limited, offered on the day on a first come-first serve basis.

In between, kids and parents can take part in other activities at this or other venues.

The event is part of a day celebrating healthy, sustainable food in the community and to help mark the launch of Good Food for Camden, the borough's food strategy.

Family Day at Kentish Town City Farm, 1 Cressfield Close off Grafton Road, NW5 4BN

For more information, visit http:www.camden.gov.uk/goodfoodday or call 0207 837 1228.

#sillyloafsongs

1st September 2009
To celebrate the launch of the Real Bread Campaign membership scheme on 14th September, we are giving you the chance to win a year’s free individual membership worth £20. Simply tweet the title of your favourite #sillyloafsongs to @RealBread on Twitter between 14th and 30th September 2009. We are after bread-related puns, so think ‘Loaf and Let Die,’ ‘Another Little Pitta my Heart,’ etc.

Notes and rules

The winning entry will be picked from those received between 14th and 30th September, inclusive
Entries accepted via Twitter only
Entries must contain #sillyloafsongs and @RealBread in the tweet
Competition open to UK residents only
The winner will receive free individual Real Bread Campaign membership for 1 year
There is no cash or other alternative prize
The judges' decision is final
The winner's name will be announced by @RealBread on Twitter, on this website and on the Real Bread Campaign group on Facebook
Entries may be used in future Real Bread Campaign communications to make journalists and others groan

Membership scheme

27th August 2009
On 14th September, the Real Bread Campaign launches a new membership scheme for everyone who cares about the state of bread in Britain.

This is the chance for you to join professional and home bakers, millers, farmers, shopkeepers, educators, researchers, campaigners and passionate punters around the country and add your voices to the unified cry for Real Bread that is better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet.

In addition to the knowledge that you are playing a part in this essential cause, as a Real Bread Campaign member you will receive benefits including:

•    Four issues of True Loaf, the exclusive quarterly magazine
•    A membership card offering a wide range of discounts
•    Access to the members’ area of the Real Bread Campaign website, packed with additional extras
•    The Real Baker-e, an online community where you can find and share supportive advice, ideas and information
•    Invitations to Real Bread networking events, including The Rise of Real Bread on 14th November

Exclusive member offers secured around the country so far include a free eco bag entitling holders to 20% off two people booking a course at Bordeaux Quay; 10% off Real Bread from GAIL’s London bakeries; baker’s dozen loyalty cards for free loaves at The Old Farmhouse Bakery and Tigh Fuine; 10% off a course at Wild Yeast bakery; 10% off the mail order baker’s box from Artisan Bread Organic; half price membership of Local Action on Food or London Food Link and discounts on Real Bread from bakeries such as Cinnamon Square and Cotton's Craft Bakery.

For details of how to join, sign up to Breadcrumbs, the Real Bread Campaign monthly email newsletter.

Local Loaves for Lammas

4 August 2009
On 1st August, Real Bread Campaign supporters across the land enjoyed a Local Loaf for Lammas.

You can share pictures and news from your own Lammas activities in the Real Bread Campaign group on Flickr, at our Facebook group and with @realbreadon Twitter.

Find out more at the Local Loaf for Lammas page

Real Bread Campaign Wins The Lottery!

16 June 2009
The Real Bread Campaign is celebrating securing funding from the Big Lottery Fund's Local Food Scheme. To find out more read our press release

Processing Aids

19 May 2009
Click here to read a statement from the Real Bread Campaign on the possible use of unlabelled processing aids in some factory bread

Older news

New Real Bread Campaign says: "Use your loaf! Buy Real Bread"

26 November 2008
The Real Bread Campaign is being launched today with an appeal to consumers to use their loaf and buy Real Bread. A coalition of consumers, bakers and campaigners is joining together to launch the Real Bread Campaign and challenge the giant industrial baking companies that dominate the modern bread market. Read the press release to find out more

Real Bread championed at Schumacher College

September 2008
Real Bread advocate Andrew Whitley will be teaching a residential course at Schumacher College in Devon - alongside the founder of the Slow Food movement, Carlo Petrini. The course, entitled Real Food, Slow Food: Championing sustainable food, takes place from November 17 to 21, 2008. Participants will focus on the art of baking real bread and link this with a discussion on the ways our food system needs to be changed. Andrew Whitley will teach bread-making skills and explore with participants the ways in which a return to small-scale production would be beneficial. With Carlo Petrini, participants will look at broader food production issues within the context of the aims of the Slow Food movement.

The Real Bread Campaign is coming!

August 2008
The Real Bread Campaign had a successful second meeting in July, and has secured funding from the Sheepdrove Trust for a launch event to be held this autumn (date to be confirmed). The Real Bread Campaign would like to thank the Sheepdrove Trust for its generous support for this work.

Bread enthusiasts meet to plan Real Bread Campaign

November 2007
In November 2007, 25 bread enthusiasts, industry representatives and seasoned campaigners met to discuss the issues, need and aims of a Real Bread Campaign. It was agreed that Sustain (www.sustainweb.org) should recruit volunteer help to take the campaign to its next stage.