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Breadcrumbs 2010

Breadcrumbs 2010


Back issues of Breadcrumbs, the monthly e-newsletter from the Real Bread Campaign

As this page is an archive of back issues, please note that some of the infomation and links it contains might no longer be current or correct.


 

December 2010

Well, ho, ho ho, and all that. What a year it's been for the Real Bread Campaign. Looking forward, next month we'll be launching Bake Your Lawn, Lessons in Loaf and Knead to Know.  To find out about these and more, please read on…

Coming over all Janus-like let's look back at our successes in 2010. In March our report, Are Supermarket Bloomers Pants?led to a 1757% rise in visits to our website and the phrase 'loaf tanning salon' entering into circulation. May's National Real Bread Maker Week inspired the owners of some of the UK's millions of unloved bread machines dig them out, dust them off and get baking Real Bread. In August we got the nation buying and baking Local Loaves for Lammas. And just last month, Real Bread dominated the BBC Food & Farming Awards, with Campaign members as finalists in three of the 10 categories, two of whom went on to win.

Thank you again to everyone who's joined us or renewed your membership this year. Making no apologies for sounding like a stuck record (modern translation: stuttering MP3 track), if you haven't become a member yet, please do.  For individuals it works out to under 40p a week: less than a supermarket 'value' wrapped sliced loaf… We rely upon your support to be able to carry on championing the rise of Real Bread and challenging the obstacles to its return to more of our tables. You can find more benefits and how to join, here.

Happy baking, happy Christmas and I'll catch you on the other side of New Year,

Chris

Core Campaign activities

Real Bread on the menu
Calling all public sector cooks and caterers: do you buy in Real Bread or bake it from scratch for a school, hospital, prison or other public sector institution? If so, please get in touch. As part of our mission to get more Real Bread on the menu, we're looking for case studies to help inform and inspire others.

We also want to hear from food access projects (e.g. community owned cafe, food co-op stall or box/bag scheme, lunch club for the elderly) that are doing the same.

If your organisation doesn't currently bake Real Bread but would like to start doing so, please drop us a line and we'll keep you up to date with details of the bread making training days we are lining up around the country.

Lessons in Loaf

Thanks to Kenneth Horne of Pinpastry, Ann Cudworth at Doughworks, Ana Jones at Little Salkeld Watermill, Tobias Schwenn at Slow Bread, and Tom Herbert at Hobbs House Bakery for passing on Real Bread making skills in their local primary schools as part of our scheme.  Lessons in Loaf will now be rolled out to schools nationally in January and so if you're a professional baker and would like to take part, please drop us a line. If you're a primary school teacher, you can now download our FREE pack.


Britain: Bake Your Lawn!
In January, we're publishing a guide to help teachers and parents lead children on the whole journey from seed to sandwich on their own doorstep. Starting with a handful of wheat and a small patch of earth, Bake Your Lawn gives tips on how to grow it, mill it, bake it and eat it. Click here for more.

We still want to hear from:

  • Seed merchants willing to sell (or perhaps donate, in the case of schools) bread making wheat seed direct to the public in small quantities - 100g for projects, 1-5kg for self-sufficiency projects.
  • Farmers and other landowners willing to work with local people wanting to grow their own wheat.
  • Millers (or people with small mills) willing to hold milling days in the autumn.
  • Bakers willing to run baking events for people using their own flour.
Knead to Know: the Real Bread Starter
Our designer is getting stuck in with design and layout on our introductory guide to baking Real Bread for a local community.  This will be available to order in print or as a PDF download from 17th January, with a discount for Campaign members. For more information, click here.

Real Bread Finder
We've given the Real Bread Finder an overhaul to make it much more user-friendly for both bakers putting their Real Breads on our map and people who want to locate a local loaf.  If you bake what we define as Real Bread, please add your loaves, and places from which people can buy them, here.

If you are already on our map, please take a moment to check that the details of your Real Breads and where to buy them are up to date.  It's now just a three step process.  We'll be relaunching the whole website to the media very soon.

Membership
The Real Bread Campaign is the ever-growing organisation for everyone who cares about the state of bread in Britain, supported by thousands of people nationwide. Importantly, every week people make the vital leap from supporter to member of our network. As a thank you, we continue to secure all sorts of goodies for them, including special offers and competition prizes.

Campaign members

15% discount  at the Friends of the Earth shop
Our chums in sister project, Local Action on Food, have secured a 15% discount at the Friends of the Earth online shopfor members of all Sustain networks, including the Real Bread Campaign. The shop offers a great range of green living books, including everything from real food cookery books, to ethical shopping guides, plus plenty of ideas to fill your green Christmas stockings. Visit The Real Baker-e for your discount code.

10% off Food Safari: Artisan Bread in a Day
A behind-the-scenes day at the Pump Street Baker. Spend the day in a working bakery and have access to specialist equipment to discover the tips and tricks of the artisan baker. While hands-on experience kneading, shaping and proving and plenty of discussion will show us how to adapt these professional techniques for the home kitchen. The course will be led by artisan baker, Chris Brenan, who will share his enthusiasm for baking real bread using natural sourdough. 10% off each place booked by Real Bread Campaign members when booking two or more places on a course.  Visit The Real Baker-e for your discount code.

True Loaf
The next issue of our exclusive, full-colour quarterly magazine will be with Campaign members in January.  Features include a visit to Denver Windmill, Andy Forbes of The Brockwell Bake Association being entered into the rolls of Bread Heroes, and a competition to win a bread making class at The School of Artisan Food.

Competition winners
Well done to the five of you for whom Christmas came early, between you winning over £450 worth of prizes from River Cottage, The Phoenix Bakery, Bakery Bits, The Bertinet Kitchen and Grub Street Publishing in our competition.  The winners' names will be published in the next issue of True Loaf.

The Real Baker-e
If you haven't been to The Real Baker-erecently, things you've missed this month include details of a working holidays at a bakery in Thailand, a free pallet of organic blueberry spread, a baker offering his time for free, news of funding opportunities and tips on rye sourdough.

Campaign members: the professionals


Real Bread winners at the BBC Food & Farming Awards
Congratulations to Real Bread Campaign ambassador Richard Bertinet, who was named BBC Food Champion, Campaign member Alex Gooch, who took home the Best Producer gong and Campaign member The Handmade Bakery for reaching the final three in the Retail Initiative category.  You can listen to the Radio 4 Food Programme awards special here.

Bread, gold and green
It's a good job that Campaign members don't share a mantelpiece: it would have collapsed under all of the awards that various companies have collected between them. One of the most recent picking up a gold star is The Thoughtful Bread Company, named Green Business of the Year at the Startup Awards.

Could you take on a voluntary apprentice?
Ah yes, it turns out that by supporting the training of the next generation of Real Bread bakers, we're doing our bit for The Big SocietyTM. If you want to get involved in our skills-for-labour exchange initiative by taking on a voluntary apprentice, please drop Chris a line.

Already we have eager beavers, raring to go in and around: Manchester, Warwickshire or Birmingham, the West Midlands, Bristol and the South West, London and the south east but we'd love to hear from would host bakeries anywhere.

Community bakery buddy
Thanks to Peter Cook of SC Price and Sons in Ludlow for agreeing to share some of his experience with the gang at Talgarth Mill in Powys. In conjunction with restoring the town's watermill, the group are also planning to start a Community Supported Bakery.

Community ovens in Cumbria
Well done to Nick Jones of Little Salkeld mill for securing a Royal Society of Arts' Catalyst programme grant for the Eden Valley Community Outdoor Bread Ovens project. This will help to build and install five community bread ovens in rural communities in Cumbria. The grant will also cover the cost to hold regular oven firing events aiming to increase healthy and local-sourced eating in the communities. If you think your village fits the bill or for more information about the project please contact Nick.
 
Real Bread down on the farm: case studies needed
FARMA is inviting millers and Real Bread bakers to FARM & MORE, the farm retail sector's annual conference and trade show. Campaign ambassador Tom Herbert of Hobbs House Bakery, Todd Sandler from Quinney's and Chris from Campaign HQ will be there on 26th January to fly the flag for the genuine article and we need stories from bakers supplying the farm shop/restaurant sector and bakeries set up in converted farm buildings. Please contact Chris.

Campaign members who exhibit will receive 10% off the stand price. Please visit The Real Baker-e for the promotional code and booking information.

Events

What are you up to?
If you're planning something bready and want us to help you let others know about it, PLEASE ADD IT TO OUR CALENDAR as far in advance as you can.

26th January: Real Bread on the farm at Farm & More, the farm diversification show, BIC, Bournemouth.
28th January: The Power of Flour part 1, Plumpton Mill, East Sussex
4th & 5th February: Bread making weekend break with Tom Herbert, Bedruthan Hotel, Cornwall
18th February:  The Power of Flour part 2, Plumpton Mill, East Sussex
12th March: The Traditional Cornmillers Guild and SPAB Mills conference, NFU Mutual head office, Stratford Upon Avon
18th-20th March: The Edible Garden Show, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire

Sippets

sippet [sɪpɪt] n (Cookery) a small piece of something, esp a piece of toast or fried bread eaten with soup or gravy [used as diminutive of sop; see -et] Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged

End Crust


A history of bread, told in flour 



November 2010

Now, every month I try to keep Breadcrumbs short but there's just so much going on! What with Lessons in Loaf happening all around the country, exciting training opportunities in the pipeline, new membership discounts, Real Bread events all over the place, new bakeries, and Campaign members spreading the Real Bread message all across the media, it's just impossible to cram it all in.

So, this is just the tip of the baguette.  Campaign members will find the very latest updates, classified ads and the opportunity to question and share stuff with other members in The Real Baker-e. 

Finally for this bit, a special thanks to you if you've just renewed your membership – it's your support that means we can keep doing what we do.

P.S. Three very quick ways you can support the rise of Real Bread this month:

  • If you still haven't made the jump from supporter to member (receiving True Loaf in the post each quarter is the real giveaway), please do.
  • Badger everyone you know to join, too. You don't need to be a baker to join.
  • Make sure that your local bakery has listed any Real Bread they bake on our finder. If they haven't, please tell 'em that they're invited to do so.

Core Campaign activities

Free Real Bread making classes
We have started to arrange Real Bread training for people cooking in a food access project (e.g. community owned cafe, food co-op stall or box/bag scheme, lunch club for the elderly); OR in a public sector canteen (e.g. school, prison, hospital, meals on wheels). Importantly, this scheme is for organisations that don't currently bake their own Real Bread but must be committed and equipped to do so.

The first places we have secured are in two one-day classes on the 15th and 16th December with master baker Clive Mellum of Campaign member Shipton Millin Gloucestershire. To be considered for a place, please email us for an application form, which needs to be returned by noon on Monday 22nd November.  Please also email if you'd like to be added to the mailing list for details of future training events.

Lessons in Loaf
Classes at two schools have now benefitted from a free Real Bread making lesson from a local baker and free teacher's support pack in the pilot phase of our scheme and three more baker/school pairs have a visit date in the diary. We have made introductions between a further thirteen bakers and schools, with which we are in continued contact to help ensure that their lessons also take place this term.

Knead to Know: the Real Bread Starter
Our introductory guide to baking Real Bread for a local community is with the designer and is scheduled to be published before Christmas.

Membership
Thanks to existing members helping us to maintain a high public profile (see sippets below), our fantastic competition, and securing yet more offers from kind supporters, we continue to gain new members and welcome back existing ones every week. Of the thousands of supporters signed up to receive Breadcrumbs, nearly 400 are now paid-up members. 

Campaign members


Real Bread evening at Marriage's
Campaign member, Marriage's, has kindly invited just 20 Campaign members to an exclusive event at their mill in Chelmesford, Essex, from 7-9pm on Tuesday 7th December.  As well as a tour of Chelmer Mill, there will be short talks from a miller, Campaign member Ben McKinnon of the E5 Bakehouse, and Nick Anderson of Mayfield Farm Bakery, plus the opportunity to mingle and chat over a cuppa. Tickets are just £3 (which will go to the Campaign), one per member, available on a first come, first served basis, by emailing Chris.

True Loaf Christmas competition ends 25th November
If you're a Campaign member and have not done so already, time's running out to enter our fantastic Christmas competition. Prizes include a bread making course at River Cottage (worth £170), an apprenticeship Saturday at The Phoenix Bakery with award-winning master baker, Aidan Chapman (worth £150) and a Real Bread baker's starter kit from Bakery Bits.  If you're not a member, then you'd better get your skates on and join us…

Roll of honour: your fellow campaign members
Until now we've been akin to a secret society, only knowing fellow Campaign members (with a handful of notable exceptions) by secret handshakes and a whispered 'le pain se leve'. To help members make contact with each other to plan local activities under the Real Bread banner, we've published a list of companies that have joined.

Community Supported Bakery for Felixstowe?
Campaign member Tim Lukehurst is on the hunt for like-minded people Suffolkians (Suffolkers? Suffolkites?), with whom to set up a CSB. Fellow members can contact him via The Real Baker-e.

Wearing the Real Bread badge with pride
Thanks to Craig McKnight and Andy Smith for adding the Real Bread Button to their respective blogs, We Grow Our Own and The Fresh Loaf.  If you're a member and also would like to show your support this way, you can download it here.

Campaign members: the professionals


We want Real Bread in farm shops!
FARMA is inviting millers and Real Bread bakers to Farm & More 2011, the farm retail sector's annual conference and trade show. The trade show attracts farm shops, farm restaurants and farmers' market producers from across the UK looking for genuine, artisan products for their businesses. The Real Bread Campaign will be there on 26th January to fly the flag for the genuine article and so could you. Real Bread Campaign members who exhibit will receive 10% off the stand price. Please visit The Real Baker-e for the promotional code and booking information.

Giving 'em what they want in Matlock
The Loaf in Crich, Derbyshire had just opened a second bakery in Matlock. To ensure they give locals the Real Bread they want, Andrew Auld and co. are using an interweb survey gizmo.

Free food directory listing
The Good Food Channel has just launched its Good Food Near You map and they've invited Real Bread bakeries to add their wares.

Doing dough down under
Any pro bakers out there fancy a working holiday in Oz? We've had a call from Callie and Joel Fitzgibbon, who're about to open the Monkeyfrog Bakehouse in Toowoomba, QLD, Australia. They have some baking experience but would like to learn more from a seasoned Real Bread baker. They say they can't cover flights but are happy to organise some accomodation and pay whilst you are teaching and baking.  If you'd like to be put in touch to investigate this opportunity, please email us.

Events

What are you up to?
Whether you're a paid up member of the Campaign or not, we'd love to help you share details of your Real Bread events with our national network of thousands of supporters. If you're planning something, PLEASE ADD IT TO OUR CALENDAR as far in advance as you can. We can then include it here.

Bethedsabakin' 2011
Mick Hartley has opened up the booking list for the fifth instalment of this annual, weekend bread fest in Wales.

Courses
There are a few classes listed on our calendar. You can find details of many more bread making classes/courses (many of which offer discounts to Campaign members) on our courses page.

Sippets

sippet [sɪpɪt] n (Cookery) a small piece of something, esp a piece of toast or fried bread eaten with soup or gravy [used as diminutive of sop; see -et] Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged

End Crust

Wholegrain better for you than refined grains shocker!


October 2010

I'll start with a thank you:  firstly to those of you who have joined as a memberin the last month and secondly (but equally) to you if you have just renewed your membership for a second year.  We're so grateful for you demonstrating your continuing support in this way.

I'd also like to say hi to you if you were one of the 85 or so people who came along to the Real Bread night at the Unicorn Groceryin Chorlton the other evening.  I'm sorry (and more than a tad miffed) that I had to leave early and so didn't get to chat to any of you.

So, without further ado, here's some of what's going on in the world of Real Bread.

PS – If you know a great local bakery that isn't on the Real Bread Finder, please pop in and suggest that they add any loaves that are what we define as Real Bread (at a basic level this is simply 100% natural and additive-free) to the directory. 

Campaign members


True Loaf
The next issue of True Loaf magazine is with our designer and will be with Campaign membersbefore you can say 'just what on earth is in the pappy substance that's holding that £4 supermarket sandwich together?' As well as an interview with Bread Hero Tom Baker of the Community Supported Bakery, Loaf, it also features a chance to win a bread making course at River Cottage (worth £170), or an apprenticeship Saturday at The phoenix Bakery with award-winning master baker, Aidan Chapman (worth £150) or a Real Bread baker's starter kit from Bakery Bits (worth £130). 

Campaign members: the professionals


Knead to Know: the Real Bread starter
We have finished compiling our support pack for people wanting to start baking Real Bread for their local communities. With contributions dozens of people who've been there, including Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters, Aidan Chapman of The Phoenix Bakery, Dan McTiernan of The Handmade Bakery and Paul Merry of Panary, the pack will be published in late November. For more details of how and when you can get hold of a copy, watch this space…

Lessons in Loaf
Earlier this month, Ken Horne of Pinpastry gained the proud accolade of running the first Real Bread making class of the pilot phase of our programme and Little Salkeld watermillwill be running a class in early November. We continue to work with a number of other bakers to get dates in the diary to run classes in their local primary schools this term.  If your bakery missed the call earlier in the year but you're willing and able to run a class before Christmas, please get in touch with Chris.

Events

Whether you're a member or not, we'd love to help you let the world know about your Real Bread events.  All you need to do is visit our calendar and add the details. Simples, as that blimmin' meerkat would say.

Eat Dorset Food fair – 16th & 17th October
A weekend celebrating the best of Dorset.  The dozens of local food producers include The Phoenix Bakery and Town Mill bakery. At 1.30pm on Sunday, Real Bread Campaign member Aidan Chapman of The Phoenix Bakery in Weymouth will be doing a demo in the cookery theatre.

Good Food for Local Communities - What's the Recipe? – 20th October
A day at the Old Library, Leamington Spa of information sharing and networking for community food projects (such as Community Supported Bakeries) from across the country. Organised by Sustain and the Soil Association, this event is for new and established groups and aims to inspire best practice, share learning and innovation, and give participants the opportunity to ask specific questions of existing projects.

Breadwinner: A bread fair – 23rd October
Home-bakers who have been nurturing a sourdough culture as part of the Exponential Growth project will return to Loughborough bringing their prize loaves. Visit the bread fair to hear about the extraordinary expansion of the yeast empire and to taste bread from Loughborough and beyond. If you would like to bring your own loaf to enter the Breadwinner competition you can still order a starter kit by emailing info@exponentialgrowth.org

Dartmouth Food Festival – 20th 24th October
Campaign ambassador Richard Bertinet will be swinging by and Tom and Will from Hobbs House Bakery will be doing demos.

Rude Health bread baking competition – 29th October
Rude Health and Virtuous Bread have joined forces to find the best recipe for home baked bread that uses Rude Health food.  Entries need to reach Rude Health between 25-29th October. Click here for full details, rules and what not.

Sippets

sippet [sɪpɪt] n (Cookery) a small piece of something, esp a piece of toast or fried bread eaten with soup or gravy [used as diminutive of sop; see -et] Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged

  • The Handmade Bakery and Alex Gooch have been shortlisted for Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards.
  • We asked 'which of your loaves are Real Bread, baked from scratch on the premises?  Greggs, the largest chain of 'craft bakeries' in the UK, with over 1400 outlets, said…
  • Click herefor pictures of artisan baker Vincent Talleu and chef Ollie Rowe baking allotment veg pizzas at the recent Capital Growth harvest festival in London's Regent's Park

End Crust

A couple of new speciality loaves from Premier Foods? Some rather special unnecessary additives found in Oxford and Northern Ireland...

 

September 2010

I can hardly believe that it's a year since we launched our membershipscheme.  Thanks to those of you who have joined – as well as helping to strengthen our network, your subscription fee really helps to ensure that we can continue our work.  If your membership is due for renewal, we'll send you a reminder to ensure you can continue receiving copies of True Loaf and have access to The Real Baker-eand special offers.  As if you needed any more encouragement, read on for a sneaky glimpse at the amazing Christmas competition we've lined up for you…

Also, it's harvest time, with festivals and other eventstaking place all over the shop.  One particularly exciting on the list below is a big old Real Bread get together in Manchester.

Well, enough jibber jabber from me, let's get to the good stuff…

Happy baking,

Chris

PS – Just so's you know, you don't have to be a baker to become a Campaign member and membership is independent of a listing on the Real Bread Finder…

Campaign members


True Loaf Christmas competition
The next issue of True Loaf (winging its way to Campaign members in mid-October) will feature a fantastic Christmas competition with a stockingful of prizes, including a bread making course at River Cottage (worth £170), an apprenticeship Saturday at The Phoenix Bakery with award-winning master baker, Aidan Chapman (worth £150) and a Real Bread baker's starter kit from Bakery Bits. 

New offer
Bread in Fife, kindly is offering Campaign members a discount on a bread making class.   For more information on this and over a dozen other offers, please visit our courses page.

Campaign logo thank you 
Thanks to Campaign members Target Catering, Breadlink and Peter Walmesleyfor adding a Real Bread supporter button and link to their websites.  If you also have put one on your site, please let us know.

Campaign members: the professionals


Do you have a mobile bread oven?
We receive an invitation to do a Real Bread (often in the form of pizza) making workshop at an event somewhere in the country almost every week.  In many cases, they are outdoors, meaning that we can only seize the opportunity if we can find a Campaign member with a mobile oven who's happy to volunteer.  If that's you, please get in touch.

Real Bread and other catering opportunities at London 2012 Olympics
A complimentary event examining the London 2012 catering strategy and the opportunities available to businesses in the Food, Drinks and Hospitality sector. Tuesday 28th September 2010, 6pm - 9pm, Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, London, SW1H 9NH To reserve your place at this event please complete the online registration form or visit www.londonbusinessnetwork.com/events

Events


We've listed a few below and you can read (or add) further details of these and more on our events calendar.

Breadmaking competition and baking demos – 25 & 26 September
As part of the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival, Campaign member W & H Marriage & Sons the flour millers is holding an amateur bread making competition and bread making workshops at Snape Maltings over the Festival weekend.

Harvest Festival – 26th September
Master baker and Campaign member Vincent Talleu will be teaming up with Capital Growth to invite visitors young and not so young to make tasty veggie Real Bread pizzas with fresh produce from The Allotment Garden at Regent's Park in London.

The Power of Flour – 1st October
Community Chef Robin Van Creveld and Paul Nicholson will be running The Power of Flour at Plumpton Mill in Lewes, East Sussex.  The workshop will cover the history and practical engineering of water powered milling and the alchemy of simple, handcrafted bread. Last we heard, they only had a couple of spaces left…

Real Bread meet and eat at Unicorn Grocery – 11th October
Join us at Unicorn Groceryin Chorlton, Manchester for an evening of tasting and talks from a host of artisan bakers and traditional millers. Alongside Bread Matters author Andrew Whitley will be speakers from Unicorn's own suppliers Little Salkeld Watermill, The Handmade Bakery, Saker Vegetarian Foods and Paul's Bakery, as well as Chris from Real Bread Campaign HQ.  There will also be chance to chat over snacks - including a selection of Real Breads - perhaps washed down with a drop or two from the real ale bar.

Good Food for Local Communities - What's the Recipe? – 20th October
A day at the Old Library, Leamington Spa of information sharing and networking for community food projects (such as Community Supported Bakeries) from across the country. Organised by Sustain and the Soil Association, this event is for new and established groups and aims to inspire best practice, share learning and innovation, and give participants the opportunity to ask specific questions of existing projects.

Rude Health bread baking competition
Rude Health and Virtuous Bread have joined forces to find the best recipe for home baked bread that uses Rude Health food.  Entries need to reach Rude Health between 25-29 October.

Sippets


sippet [sɪpɪt] n (Cookery) a small piece of something, esp a piece of toast or fried bread eaten with soup or gravy [used as diminutive of sop; see -et] Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged

Seed to sandwich in Brixton
Pictures from a day with the Brockwell Bake Association at the 2010 Urban Green Fair

Bertinet branching out
Campaign member Richard Bertinet's bakery has launched a new range of more than a dozen organic Real Breads. They will be available in Riverford Organic delivery boxes in much of the south west and Wales.  Bread will also be supplied to a number of top notch restaurants and delicatessens in London, Cardiff and the south west. http://www.bertinet.com/

Prize-winning Real Bread
Campaign member More? Artisan scooped a gong at the Baking Industry Awards, The Phoenix Bakery picked one up at the Taste of Dorset awards, while at Taste of the West,The Bertinet Bakery, Bordeaux Quay, Hobbs House Bakery, Manna from Devon, Pullins, The Thoughtful Bread Company and Vicky's Bread all grabbed shiny things for their mantelpieces.

On the telly

Another in a long line of TV shows that we've been talking to…Food with Jay Rayner on Channel 4, Wednesday 22nd September, 8pm will be looking at the state of bread in Britain. [update: sadly, after weeks of long conversations with the show's producers, this item got dropped]

End Crust

A comment on the state of British industrial baking, delivered via the medium of Japanese Manga:

August 2010

Well, our complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about an advert for Tesco in-store bakeries made waves.  As a result of the media coverageit generated, the number of visitors to our website shot up, reaching a peak of over 13,000 in one day and we have welcomed dozens of new members. Millies Fresh & Organic in Leeds reported fifty visitors clicking through from the Real Bread Finder to their site in a single day.  If you have seen direct benefits of our work yourself, please let us know.

Looking forward, work on Knead to Know, our support pack for Real Bread bakers, is well under way, the pilot scheme for Lessons in Loaf will begin in September and there are a number of events coming up.  Read on to find out more.

Don't forget – if you have something bready going on, please let us help you share it with breadheads around the country by adding details to our events calendar and if you have any news you'd like to share in future issues of Breadcrumbs, please let us know!

Campaign members


JOIN NOW!
How subtle is that? We can't do this without your help. Whether you are a professional baker or passionate punter, it's never too late to make the leap from Breadcrumbs-reading supporter to card-carrying member. In return for your hard-earned cash, you will receive the exclusive, full colour, glossy(ish), fragrant (actually, scratch that last bit) quarterly magazine, True Loaf, a whole heap of discounts on courses and access to our forum, The Real Baker-e. Best of all, you get a whole breadbin full of warm and fuzzy satisfaction that you are supporting such a worthwhile cause – the fight for better bread in Britain!

New special offer
Thanks to Breadlink for offering all fellow Campaign members a 10% discount on boxes (10 x 2.5kg bags) of their organic sprouted grain flour mixes. Visit The Real Baker-e for full details of the offer and the discount code.

Local Loaves for Lammas
Thanks again to everyone who took part in Local Loaves for Lammas.  We'd love to see and share with other members your pictures and stories.  Please email these to Chris and they could wind up in the next issue of True Loaf.

Great to see that some of you used the press release we gave you to get yerselves into your local papers and the like. You can catch some highlights here.

True Loaf deadline
Speaking of our lovely (even if we do say so ourselves) magazine, the deadline for stuff to go in the next issue (October-December) is 10th September.  So, if you have any relevant news, announcements, pictures, recipes, poems, cartoons or, well, anything you'd like to see in its pages, please send it to us by then.

Campaign members: the professionals


Wanted: part-time baker/bread revolutionary
The community-supported Handmade Bakeryin Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, is seeking a baker to join their workers' co-operative. Professional baking experience is not necessary as training will be provided, but preferably you are a keen home-baker with a passion for real food and building sustainable lifestyles. Applications close 31st August 2010. For full details, email info@thehandmadebakery.coop

Real Bread course
Campaign member Andy Smith, lecturer in bakery at Newcastle College, has just been given the go-ahead to pilot a bakery course at Level 3. This is a really important step in the development of an officially-recognised qualification that is founded on Real Bread skills and principles, rather than designed mainly to meet the needs of supermarkets, chain bakeries etc. The course will run 1 full day a week over 30 weeks from September 2010. If you would like more information on the pilot scheme, please contact Andy: andrew.smith@ncl-coll.ac.uk  or 0191-200 4627

Award-winning Real Breads
Well done to Campaign members Cinnamon Square, The Thoughtful Bread Company, Judges Bakery, The Flour Station and Wessex Mill, who all scooped Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. 

Good luck to…
Campaign members Cinnamon Square, Hobbs House Bakery and Nicholas & Harris, who are all finalists in this year's Baking Industry Awards.  The winners will be announced on 8th September.

Happy Birthday…
...to Loaf social enterprise and The Phoenix Bakery, both of which have just celebrated their 1st birthdays.

Events

The Brockwell Bake double bill – 5th and 11th September
The Brockwell Bake Association's third annual friendly real bake off for home bakers and pros takes place as part of The Lambeth Urban Green Fair. The day will also include pizza making for kids, demos of threshing, winnowing and milling of Lambeth-grown heritage wheat and much more.

The following weekend, Andy Forbes and co will be out in force again for the feast on Southwark Bridge as part of the Mayor's Thames Festival. Visitors of all ages are invited to have a go at threshing, winnowing, milling and baking of heritage wheat grown on local allotments, schools and community gardens. You can also learn about wind and water powered milling from members of the Traditional Cornmillers Guild and the Oxford Bread Group, try some hands-on thatching with the Rumpelstiltskin Thatching Company and also corn dolly making.

If any Real Bread Campaign member wants to lend a hand at either of these BB events, please contact Chris Young.

Ludlow Food Festival – 10th – 12th September
As usual, a feast of Real Bread is in store for visitors to this year's festival. As well as Saturday's annual trail around the Real Bread bakers of Ludlow, on Friday afternoon, one of said floury fellows, Peter Cook of Prices the Bakers will be giving a talk with another campaign member Paul Merry of Panary.  Peter will be popping up again on Sunday to co-host a Real Bread and charcuterie taste workshop.

Edible Assets - Securing money for your food initiative – 14th September
A one day Local Action on Food Network conference at Paintworks, Bristol on 14th September to explore some of the possible avenues for food projects and enterprises to become more financially viable. Experts from funding organisations, service contractors, businesses and community groups will be sharing their experience. After the event there will be a South West and Bristol focused networking do for local food projects and organisations working to make their local food system more sustainable.  Click here for full details.

Real Bread meet and eat at Unicorn Grocery – 11th October
Join us at Unicorn Groceryin Chorlton, Manchester for an evening of tasting and talks from a host of artisan bakers and traditional millers. Alongside Bread Matters author Andrew Whitley will be speakers from Unicorn's own suppliers Little Salkeld Watermill, The Handmade Bakery, Saker Vegetarian Foods and Paul's Bakery, as well as Chris from Real Bread Campaign HQ.  There will also be chance to chat over snacks - including a selection of Real Breads - perhaps washed down with a drop or two from the real ale bar. You can purchase one of the very limited number of tickets from 13th September in person at the shop or by emailing debbie@unicorn-grocery.co.uk

Sippets

sippet[sɪpɪt] n (Cookery) a small piece of something, esp a piece of toast or fried bread eaten with soup or gravy [used as diminutive of sop; see -et] Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged

  • Follow the progress of a new Real Bread bakery in the Pump St Journal
  • Watch the video for '80s track Bakerman by Laidback

End Crust


“Bread is just an ordinary, everyday commodity. Customers look for consistency, it doesn't matter whether it comes from Timbuktu or Tooting.”

Unnamed industrial baker, quoted in Traceability and ethical concerns in the UK wheat–bread chain: from food safety to provenance to transparency by David Barling et al.


July 2010

At the risk of being predictable, I'm going to begin by shouting about Local Loaves For Lammas, which takes place over the weekend of 31st July and 1st August. You can see the current line up on our website. If you still haven't let me know what you're up to, please drop me a line sharpish.

One other bit of news I'll just tease you with is that the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint we made about an ad by one of the supermarkets.  Can't tell you any more until they publish their adjudication, so please visit our website next Wednesday (21st July) when all will be revealed.

Oh and read on to the end of this newsletter to find out a new way in which Real Bread is appearing on the breakfast table.

Campaign members

Member or supporter?
Just to clear up any confusion, our supporters are all of you who have signed up to receive Breadcrumbs or have added your loaves to our Real Bread Finder. Campaign members are those of you who've kindly gone one step further by sticking your hand in your wallet (well, PayPal) and paid to join us.  If you haven't yet made this important jump, please click here to find out why and how we'd love you to do so and what's in if for you.

True Loaf
The new issue of our magazine True Loafis out now. Exclusively for Campaign members, this issue features articles including one from 'that baker off of the telly', Tom Herbert, a report from the Lighthouse Bakery, the latest of our Bread Heroes,  news, pictures and even a Local Loaf Lover poster on the back.

Campaign members: the professionals

Real Bread apprenticeships
Thanks to those of you who've said already that you'd be interested in passing on Real Bread skills to would-be professional bakers.  If you'd like to find out more, email Chris for more details on this.

Dan Lepard's top 10
Well done to Campaign members Prices, The Loaf and Phoenix for making it to Dan Lepard's top 10 bakeries in The Times the other weekend and to others (Hobbs House and Judges) for getting notable mentions. Good to see a few other bakeries from the Real Bread Finder in there, too.

Handmade accolade
Brownie points also to Campaign members The Handmade Bakery, who won a prestigious Co-operatives Award.

Salt: how low can you go?
As part of our work in finding ways to make bread better for our health, the Campaign supports the Food Standards Agency's drive to reduce salt levels. To help you meet the FSA's 2012 salt target of 1% of loaf weight, they have created this salt calculator.

Events

Local Loaves for Lammas
It's great to see so many of you getting involved this year.  If you are doing something to celebrate, we hope it goes well for you and we'd love to see any photos you take and hear your stories, so that we can share them with others.  Please email anything you have to Chris.

Lambeth Country Show
As part of their mission to share the whole Real Bread story with south London, the Brockwell Bake Association will be taking their new Dutch mill on an outing to the show in Brockwell Park at 3pm this Saturday, 17th July.  For full details of the rest of the day, click here. 

Bread of ages
On 18th July, Commonwork in Kent is holding an open dayto 'celebrate our shared heritage from Iron Age to low carbon age'. The programme includes discovery of the origins of bread, making a heritage dough and then baking it in their wood-fuelled oven.

CherryAid
Saturday 17th July sees local foodie Henrietta Green rallying the troops once more in the fight to save the British Cherry. She'd love to see Real Bread bakers getting involved by baking British cherry loaves and the like. For full details of how to join in the fun and for events already planned, visit foodloversbritain.com

Melton Big Bake
To see what Real Bread bakers Paul Jones, Vincent Talleu, Andy Forbes and co got up to, on this recent fun-packed day, visit
http://www.myplot.org/gallery.php?page=7&project=59

To find or add details of more Real Bread events to our calendar, click here

Sippets

Real Bread in rude health
Having hosted rants from Campaign members Richard Bertinet (The Bertinet Kitchen), Andrew Wilkinson (Gilchesters Organics), Roger Saul (Sharpham Park) and me, Rude Health has now printed a bowlful of Real Bread-supporting invective on tens of thousands of boxes of their Morning Glory porridge. To listen to more rants, visit: http://www.rudehealth.com/rants

BBC Food & Farming Awards
Right: time for us all to get voting to see if we can bag a BBC Food & Farming Award for a Real Bread baker or campaigner.

Funding roundup
If you are after some extra dosh to support your community food project, have a quick look at the funding roundup published by our sister campaign, Local Action on Food.

Keep in touch
Members can keep in touch with each other in The Real Baker-e and the wider world via Facebook and Twitter.

End Crust

A 1757 Act of Parliament banned all adulterants from bread. Current legislation not only permits artificial additives but also allows industrial bakers to slip in 'clean label' added enzymes as processing aids and not even declare them. Oh how times change…


June 2010

So - busy, busy, busy gearing up for Local Loaves for Lammas at the end of July.  Thanks to Allendale Bakery, Camphill Community Centre, Denver Windmill, Doves Farm, Embassy Cafι, Food For Thought, Foster's Mill, Hornbeam Centre, Little Salkeld Watermill, The New Lammas Lands Defence Committee and True Food Co-op for saying 'count me in' already – I look forward to receiving your details and hearing from more of you very soon.  We'll be sending a template press release and logo to participants to help you promote your events.

For more on this, the latest offers for Campaign members, what we've been up to over the past month and what's coming up in the next few weeks, please read on.

In the meantime, please keep in touch with your fellow members via The Real Baker-e and more supporters via Facebook and Twitter. You can also send bits of news for possible inclusion in Breadcrumbs to me.

Campaign members

New special offers
The Bertinet Kitchenin Bath is offering Campaign members 10% off any of their 2, 3 or 5 day bread or baking courses with Campaign ambassador Richard Bertinet. Campaign members who book two places on the same course at The Lighthouse Bakery School in East Sussex will also get a 10% discount

Please telephone to book and quote your membership number to obtain either discount. 

On a related note, there have been messages in The Real Baker-e from a member or two looking for a companion to join them on courses that offer 20%-off-when-two-people-book discounts we have arranged.

True Loaf – stop press
We'll be sending the July-September issue to members in a few weeks' time. Though the deadline for articles has passed, if you have any short (one or two lines) news items you'd like considered for inclusion, please email them to us by this Friday, June 18th.

Campaign members: the professionals

Bakers' support pack
Would you like to help support the rise of Real Bread by sharing some of what you have learned with would-be professional Real Bread bakers?  If so, then please get in touch with Chris Young to chat about what you could contribute to the Real Bread bakers' support pack.

Bakers' Angels
Just a reminder to the professional Real Bread bakers: if you have any questions and really need to pick the brains of an expert, we have set up, the Real Bread Bakers' Angels for Campaign members in The Real Baker-e.

Apprenticeships
We're still keen to hear from Real Bread bakeries that would consider taking on an apprentice or taking part in a baker exchange with another UK bakery.

Bakery lease
Redbournbury Watermillin St Albans, Hertfordshire is looking for a baker to take on the lease of their established and successful on-site bakery.   The bakery produces bread with flour from the watermill.  This may suit an established baker looking for a new outlet or a recently retired baker looking for an opportunity to work in an artisan bakery. For further details contact Mandy James 01582 792874 redbrymill@aol.com

Food fairs etc.
Will you be flying the flag for Real Bread over the coming months?  If so, please don't forget to let people know about the Campaign.  Please let us know if you'd like some of our leaflets to help you do so and feel free to add details to our events calendar.

Events

Local Loaves for Lammas
Bee Wilson has already promised she'll be featuring Local Loaves for Lammasin the Telegraph the week before and we'll be having a media push in early July.  If you want to join in with the event (which last year generated plenty of national and local media coverage that helped to raise awareness for both those taking part and the Campaign in general) please get in touch with Chris Young now! 

Camden Green Fair
In addition to those of you who were amongst the 60 or so who came along to learn Real Bread skills, a huge thank you to all who helped make our day at the Camden Green Fair such a success. Thanks to Campaign volunteers Sarah and Mark; Unpackaged, Neal's Yard Dairy and The Clerkenwell Kitchen for their generous donations of fine ingredients; the Brockwell Bake Association for lending us their gazebo; but most of all to our hosts the London Community Resource Network and to baker David Jones of Manna From Devon for wheeling his mobile oven all the way up to the Big Smoke.  You can see some snaps here.

Melton Big Bake
Melton Big Bake is a new baking competition being held at the Country Fair in Melton Mowbray on Sunday 27th June 2010.  In true Country Fair style the competition is designed to showcase bakers who take pride in their baking and use traditional methods and great natural ingredients. It's a brilliant opportunity to see expert baker Vincent Talleu baking throughout the day using the on site wood-fired ovens, courtesy of Paul's Organic Bakeryand Whetstone Pastures Farm, and watch a working vintage threshing machine in action. Entry forms and further information are available athttp://www.leicestershirefoodlinks.org.uk/ or contact Leicestershire Food Links on 01509 881386

Exponential Growth
Exponential Growthis a new commission from artist Rebecca Beinart for the Radar Arts Program at Loughborough University. Launched with two events last week, the project will create an exchange network to share locally found yeast cultures, in an experiment to see “whether Loughborough's culture can colonise the world, and what the limits are to growth.” Rebecca would love to hear from anyone living in the east Midlands who'd like to get involved or give advice.

Not by Bread Alone
From Sunday 4th until Thursday 15th July, artsdepot in North Finchley, London is hosting this performanceby the Nalaga'at Company as part of the LIFT 2010 festival.  Eleven deafblind actors will share their stories whilst bread is kneaded, proved and baked on stage.

Sippets

Real Bread on the telly
We lined up Real Bread Campaign working party member Tom Herbert of Hobbs House Bakery to give expert advice to failing bakery owner Angela Maher on BBC2's Mary Queen of Shops. If you missed this cautionary tale last Monday, you can still catch the show on BBC iPlayer

Another Campaign member we've managed to get onto the haunted fishtank is Duncan Glendinning of The Thoughtful Bread Company, who's busy filming a series with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Keo Films for broadcast later this year.  For more details watch this space…

Online social networking
We've moved our Facebook 'home'. If you're on Facebook, please go to facebook.com/realbreadcampaign and click 'like'.

With apologies to the non-tweeters to whom much of the following will be gibberish: I've lost track of which of our members are on Twitter, so please tweet hello to @RealBread and I'll get round to some Follow Friday action. Oh, and you can now show your support for the Campaign by adding a RealBread Twibbon to your avatar.

New Real Bread bakeries
The Old Farmhouse Bakery in Steventon, Oxfordshire now has a sibling in the village of Kintbury.  Recently, Cinnamon Square of Rickmansworth has also started seeing double with a new bakery in Ruislip.

Happy birthday
…to Campaign member the Allendale Bakery and Cafι in Hexham, Northumberland, which has just celebrated its 1st anniversary. Well done to Carrie, Larry and co.

Blog: Fare's Fair
Chris Young's blog on the price of a loaf.

End Crust


“To British people, the only values that food possess [sic.] are cheapness, convenience, shelf life and never mind what's in the stuff, provided it looks right."
Raymond Blanc, The Independent, 19th May 2010

May 2010

Hello again or, if you have just joined us as a campaign member, thank you and welcome.

Welcome also if you are one of the hundreds of people who have signed up for Breadcrumbs over the past month.  For details of how you can support our work by (and some of the benefits of) becoming a member, please visit our website.

From where I'm sitting, the fight for the rise of Real Bread seems to be gathering pace.  Events that we've organised centrally and, more importantly, action some of you have been taking locally, keep coming thick and fast.  Here's a round up of some of what's been going on over the past month or coming up soon.

Of course, members can keep each other up to date or come together to plan their delicious or dastardly doughy deeds in The Real Baker-e.

Happy baking

Chris

Forthcoming events

Local Loaves for Lammas
For a second year, on the weekend of 31st July-1st August, we're encouraging the nation to bake or buy a Local Loaf for Lammas. The end of July might seem a long way off but to make this year's event even bigger and better than last year, we need YOUR HELP NOW, please. The sooner we know about your event, the better the chances of getting media coverage to help raise local and national awareness of your business/organisation and the Campaign in general. For inspiration, please visit the Local Loaves for Lammas page and then get in touch with Chris Young ASAP.

Real Bread is True Food
This Saturday (15th May), True Food Co-opin Reading will be celebrating the opening of its new shop. Thanks to an epiphany at last November's Rise of Real Bread conference, they'll be stocking Real Bread from the Natural Bread Company, whose founder William Black, was a speaker at the event, as well as from the Brown Sugar Bakery.

Slow Food Cornwall Bread Day
This Sunday (16th May) Slow Food Cornwall invites you to celebrate the art of Real Bread. They are bringing together some of the finest local breads, accoutrements and those in the know in Ladock, Cornwall, for a day of making, tasting and talking all about bread. For more information, please email Pippa on pippavanwelie@yahoo.co.uk

More than bread alone
This Soil Association course will look at the magical process of making bread from growing grain through to making your own bread oven and baking your loaf. Taking place at Emerson College in East Sussex from Tuesday 1st June to Thursday 4th June, it will explore the cultural significance of bread with stories and folklore.

Camden Green Fair
At the kind invitation of the London Community Resource Network, on Sunday 6th June, Campaign member David Jones of Manna From Devon will be wheeling his mobile bread oven into Regent's Park in London and helping visitors to the Camden Green Fair to turn ingredients from our friends at Unpackaged into Real Bread and pizzas. We've also dragged Andy Forbes in again to chat about the Brockwell Bake Association's work in South London teaching kids about the whole Real Bread story from seed to sandwich.

Co-operatives Fortnight
This year sees the UK's first ever Co-operatives Fortnight. From 19th June to 3rd July, co-operatives and community initiatives up and down the country will be promoting their business and the case for co-operation. Perhaps you are (or would like to be) involved in a Community Supported Bakery set up as a co-operative or are working on getting Real Bread on the menu of a food co-op?  If so, please visit http://www.thereisanalternative.coop/ for more details.

Share your event
If you have a Real Bread event planned, let us help you to share the news by adding it to our events calendar.  If you are a Real Bread Campaign member and would like to get together with fellow members locally to organise an event or simply have a venue that you would be happy for members to use for an event, please use The Real Baker-e to put out a call to action.

Recent events

Food Junctions
What a great two days of cob oven baking we had at Camley Street Natural Park as part of University College London's Food Junctions event.  Thanks to Andy Forbes of the Brockwell Bake Association for pulling everything together, artisan baker Vincent Talleufor his baguette shaping masterclass and to Campaign volunteers Dilly, Sarah, Sushila and Mark for helping to make the event a success. Click here for pictures.

National Real Bread Maker Week
Thanks to all of you who either organised or got involved in bread machine shenanigans during the first ever National Real Bread Maker Week.  Between us, we drummed up plenty of media interest for the campaign, with mentions from The Observer Magazine, The Daily Telegraph Magazine, The Times, The London Evening Standard, British Baker magazine and a range of local media. If you have stories or photos to share, please get in touch.

Real Food Festival
Thanks to Campaign working party member and Real Food Festival director Philip Lowery (and his team) for making us so welcome again this year. You can see snaps from the weekend and read a quick whiz through the weekend on our blog.

London social
We are a network of people who share a real passion for Real Bread so why not seize the opportunity to meet some of them? Having shared a few pints of real ale earlier this month with fellow members and watched contact details being exchanged, I can highly recommend that Campaign members in other parts of the country set up similar informal get togethers.  The best way of finding who's in your area and fancies organising a meet up – perhaps in the pub but maybe in a bakery or at a mill - is inThe Real Baker-e.

Campaigning

The Sheila McKechnie Awards
The SMK Awards is an annual programme for emerging campaigners.  Winners get support in building their campaigning skills and it is a great opportunity to raise awareness for a cause. You might not see yourself as a 'campaigner' but if you are demonstrating commitment to a cause they want to hear from you. They also invite people to nominate someone else.  So, if you are or know someone fighting the fight for Real Bread in whatever way, please visit the SMK Foundation website.

Where we're at
Just a quick update on the key Campaign outcomes we have agreed with the Big Lottery Fund's Local Food scheme, our main funder:

  • Membership– We now have over 250 paid up members, whose subscription fees help to fund our work now and whose continuing support will be vital in helping to ensure the Campaign is able to continue after 2013.

  • Lessons in Loaf– We've found bakers to pass on Real Bread skills, have experts translating support materials into “teacherspeak” and are following up invitations to local primary schools to take part in the pilot scheme.

  • Bakers' support pack – Having set up an online support service in The Real Baker-e, our Bakers' Angels and other experienced Real Bread bakers are hard at work writing sections for the manual. We are also working with the Real Bread bakers that we know to create a network of those willing to offer voluntary apprenticeships.

  • Helping to get Real Bread on the menu– We continue to invite Real Bread bakers to let us know if they would like to help to make Real Bread available through food access projects (such as food co-ops and community cafes) and public sector institutions (such as hospitals, prisons and schools) and work with other Sustain projects to make those connections.

True Loaf – your shout
True Loaf is the quarterly magazine for Real Bread Campaign members and so we'd like to hear from you – what have you been up to and what are you planning in your own fight for Real Bread? Everyone has something that could inform or inspire others so please send us your letters, pictures, cartoons, news snippets, articles (or article ideas), and recipes and we'll share our favourites with other members. General themes for forthcoming issues will be: local loaves (July-September) and baking for your community (October-December). For deadlines and more information, please get in touch with Chris Young.

Community food and climate change
A new report by Making Local Food Work says that community-led food enterprises are up for the challenge of climate change.

End crust

Baker with family wanted for BBC One series
As advertised in the March issue of Breadcrumbs, Wall to Wall productions are still looking for an outgoing baker and family with children aged between 8 - 21 years who can relocate for a couple of months this summer and 'rise to the challenge of living and trading their way through 100 years of British history.' If you are interested, please contact Zoe A'Court on 0207 482 6137 or zoe.a'court@walltowall.co.uk 

April 2010

Hi,

Spring's here!  I hope I'm not speaking too soon as we'll be posting the spring edition of True Loaf magazine to campaign members this week. 

Also upon us before we know it will be National Real Bread Maker Week, which runs from 1st May.  A gang from Real Bread HQ will be doing our bit for the week at the Real Food Festival (if you are a member, you've got until this Sunday to buy your discounted ticket) and there will be other campaign members and friends around the country getting involved.

Something else that's been keeping me busy is the reaction to Are Supermarket Bloomers Pants? the report from our nine-month investigation of supermarket in-store bakeries.

So, for details of all of this, more events, what's been going on in the world of Real Bread and what's coming up, please read on.  

National Real Bread Maker Week
We need your help now. Running from 1st – 9th May, National Real Bread Maker Week is the perfect chance to dig out an unloved bread machine and use it to bake Real Bread or pass it on to someone who will.  Little Salkeld Watermill, Union Mill in Cranbrook and Doves Farm are amongst those who'll be helping us all to get the best out of our machines with the finest flours, whilst Freecycle, Freegle, Let's All Share and Bright Sparks are some of the organisations helping with the 'pass it on' bit.

Amongst others, The Daily Telegraph will be featuring the event in their food diary, so whether you will be getting baking at home, hosting a swap shop or holding an event, we'd love to help share with others what you'll be doing. Join in or find out more here. 

Win!
If you post your own Real Bread machine recipe and photo on the National Real Bread Maker Week page on Facebook and you could win one of two pairs of VIP tickets to the Real Food Festival, where the favourite loaf will be picked by a panel of celebrity judges, including Thomasina Miers. 

The Real Food Festival
Real Bread Campaign member the Real Food Festivalhas invited us along to help lay a trail of Real Breadcrumbs throughout the show.  Highlights include campaign working party member Richard Bertinet ranting on the Rude Health soapbox, the Festival Loaf competition and the judging of the National Real Bread Maker Week competition.  We'll be there to run the Real Bread swap shop of skills, ideas, tips and bread machines. 

National Mills Weekend
On 8th and 9th May, Real Bread Campaign member the mills section of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings is holding its annual National Mills Weekend.  Around the country, members of the Traditional Cornmillers Guildand other wind and water powered mills will be inviting people inside for tours, talks, Real Bread making lessons and general family fun.

Food Junctions
We've teamed up with University College London and the Brockwell Bake Association (BBA) to organise clay oven bread making for Food Junctions. On 1st May, Andy Forbes of the BBA will be teaching a small group how to fire up the clay oven at Camley Street Natural Park (behind King's Cross, London), followed by pizza making with kids. Adults are also welcome but only if they promise to behave themselves... On the Sunday morning there will be baguette shaping and baking with young French baker, Vincent Talleu.

Pants?
Well, it seems the suspicions of many could well be true.  After nine month of store visits, phone calls, letters and emails, we could only find one supermarket chain that was producing any Real Bread in its in-store bakeries.  The Real Bread PR machine kicked into action and we got the story on page three of The Daily Mail and also into The Daily Telegraph, as well as trade publications The Grocer, Bakery and Snacks, Food Manufacture and International Supermarket News. The story is now making its way around the world and to date has been featured in the Netherlands, Hungary and Canada.  You can read the report Are supermarket bloomers pants? here.  The report includes a section of what you can do about the situation.

True Loaf
The spring issue features Loaf Crust and Crumb author, Silvija Davidson, chatting to Bread Hero, Richard Bertinet; Tom Baker of Loaf visiting Charlecote Mill in Warwickshire; food campaigner Angie Greenham asking if Real Bread is already a choice for the majority of British consumers; a report from the BioFach organic trade fair by campaign co-founder Andrew Whitley; and even a free poster.  To receive this exclusive quarterly full colour magazine, join the Real Bread Campaign now. 

Advice for your home-based bakery
Finding ways to get more Real Bread into local communities is a key goal for the Real Bread Campaign. One way of doing this is people baking at home for neighbours. To help inspire anyone considering this idea, Emma Jones, founder of the home business website enterprisenation.com and author of Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home and the forthcoming Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time, shares with us some top tips. If you already have a home-based bakery and would like to share your own experiences with others, please let us know.

Bread oven restoration in the sun
Steve Watson is looking for volunteers to help research and restore his 400-year old four au pain in Beaumont Du Lac, France. He is planning to carry out the project from late July through to late August or early September.  Time commitment from any willing volunteer would be anything from a day upwards. If you have experience of building/restoration, especially brick ovens; could help research the history of this boulangerie or are willing simply to help out as a labourer and learn along the way, please email steve@northesk.co.uk 

Campaign members

Who's what where?
As a fully paid up member of the Real Bread Campaign, you are part of a growing national network of over two hundred bakers, millers, retailers and individuals.  The thing is many of you don't know each other. Later this month, Chris Young is organising an informal get together for members in and around London as a chance to meet up and chat over a drink or two – wouldn't you like to see something similar round your way?  For details, please visit The Real Baker-e. 

Real Bread button
Do you have a website or blog?  Please show your support and help us to raise the profile of the campaign by linking to our website using one of these buttons. You can find your membership number on the card we sent you when you joined.

Campaign members: the professionals 

Bakers Angels
Are you a professional Real Bread baker and really need to pick the brains of an expert? Well, the Real Bread Bakers Angels are hereand boy do we have some brains for you to pick.  Post your message in the Real Baker-e and it'll be seen by campaign members including the likes of Tom Herbert of Hobbs House, Emmanuel Hadjiandreou of Judges Bakery, Peter Cook of SC Price, Troels Bendix of The Celtic Bakers, Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters, Clive Mellum of Shipton Mill, Paul Barker of Cinnamon Square and many more. 

Apprenticeships
We are looking at the possibility of developing a national Real Bread apprenticeship/skills exchange network.  We would like to hear from you if: you could help to develop the scheme (suggested good practice, baker/apprentice agreements etc.), would consider taking on an apprentice or taking part in an exchange programme – bit like a French exchange at school, except it would only involve professionals visiting each other's bakeries in the UK.

Local food networks
One of the required outcomes of the campaign is to help make Real Bread available in local food schemes. Therefore, we need to hear from you if you would be interested in discussing establishing links with a local scheme such as a: vegetable box delivery, food buying co-operative or hub, community owned and run cafe, shop or market.  If you do any of this already, please get in touch to so we can share your knowledge and experience with others.

Competition for professional bakers
The Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees is a non-profit organisation run by volunteers from the bakery industry. Their annual conference (11th – 13th June) includes a baking competition for students, trainees and professional bakers and we think it would be great if some of the prizes are won by Real Bread bakers. Entry is free and prizes include bakery training trips to France, Belgium and Germany. For more information and an entry form, please email this chap from Hovis: graham.duckworth@premierfoods.co.uk

Bakery manager required
Campaign member Cinnamon Square is looking for an experienced bakery manager for their new site in Ruislip. To apply, please send your CV to paulbarker@cinnamonsquare.com For more information email Paul or call him on: 07878 558905

ABO needs organic Real Bread licensee
Artisan Bread Organic (ABO) is looking to license an organic bakery in/around London, ideally with an established delivery system in the capital, to produce around 2500 loaves per week of their organic rye, spelt and wheat breads. ABO would pay by the piece for making the bread, provide a long-established customer base for you to build upon and do all the admin work. Contact Ingrid Greenfield on mail@artisanbread-abo.co.uk or 01227 771 881

Sippets

Real Bread on the Telly : Towards the end of March, the BBC had a bit of a Real Bread feast.  In under a week, it broadcast three programmes featuring campaign members and friends.  First up was Bread: A loaf affair, which featured Andrew Whitley and John Lister of Shipton Mill.  The following night, Tom Herbert of Hobbs House Baker went In Search of the Perfect Loaf, taking in Sharpham Park along the way.  Scoring the hat trick was Raymond Blanc, who in revealing his Kitchen Secrets:Bread, visited Shipton Mill.  You can still catch all three for a limited time on the BBC iPlayer.

Open Day in Shaftesbury: On 3rd May, campaign member Panary and our friends at Cann Mills are holding a joint open day.

•    More events
•    More companions
•    More ways to get involved

End crust

Y'know that 1973 advert for a certain brand of wrapped sliced stuff, the one where a lad pushes his delivery bike up a steep cobbled street to the strains of Dvořαk's 9th symphony?  Well, don't let the boy's northern accent fool you, the incline up which he was shunting is Gold Hill in Shaftestbury, Dorset.

March

Through the power of Twitter, recently I adopted the unwanted bread machine of a fellow Tweeter.  I'm now spending my weekends busy breaking the rule book that says 'you must only use instant yeast' to find the secret of breadmaker sourdough and other longer ferment Real Breads. I'll let you know how things go but to know why I'm doing this, please read on.

Happy baking

Chris
…………………………………………….

National Real Bread Maker Week
From 1st-9th May, the first ever National Real Bread Maker Week is the chance for everyone with an unloved bread maker to dig it out and get baking Real Bread or pass it on to someone who will. To make this week a success we need your help NOW.

Exclusive ticket discount for the Real Food Festival, 7th-9th May 2010
We're busy finalising our plans for a trail of real breadcrumbs to run through the Real Food Festival at Earl's Court in London.  In the meantime, our friends the organisers are kindly offering advance tickets to Real Bread Campaign members at discount of up to 50% off the on-the-door price.  If you are a member, you can find your discount code in The Real Baker-e.  If not, then join us now!  Full details of the offer are on our membership discounts page.

Campaign volunteer needed in London
We're looking for a volunteer to join Chris here in the office for a day or two a week to help secure more funding for the Real Bread Campaign's work.

Last call for True Loaf
Work is well underway on the next issue of True Loaf magazine. Do you have something you've done recently or something coming up over the next few months that you'd like to share with campaign members?  The deadline for news items is next week.

Also, we're always keen to receive your news and stories for Breadcrumbs and the Real Bread blog; pictures, articles or feature suggestions for future editions of True Loaf.  Members can look for or share stories, recipes and tips at any time in The Real Baker-e

In search of the perfect loaf
Follow award-winning artisan baker and Real Bread Campaign working party member Tom Herbert in his search to bake the perfect loaf that will win him first prize at the National Organic Food Awards...BBC Four, Thursday 25th March at 9pm. More>>

Easter recipe
Easter's coming so soon it'll be time to start baking some seasonal favourites. Thanks to cook and food campaigner, Suzanne Wynn for her recipe for Real hot cross buns.

Bread Hero
For those of you not yet a campaign member, we've published an excerpt of our Bread Hero interview with Duncan of The Thoughtful Bread Company, which first appeared in issue 1 of True Loaf.

Real Bread in Country Living
The April issue (out now) of Country Living magazine stars a four-page feature on Real Bread, including interviews we set up for campaign co-founder, Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters and campaign member The Handmade Bakery, plus mentions for several other members and supporters.  Unsurprisingly, the bread making day with campaign working party member Emmanuel Hadjiandreou at Judges Bakery proved popular and has sold out already.

Oxford Symposium 9th – 11th July
The theme this year is cured, fermented and smoked foods. Speakers include Harold McGee and papers being presented include 'Transylvania charcoal coated bread' and 'Yeast are people, too'. For details on applying for an assisted place, student rate, Raymond Blanc chef's grant, or The Sophie Coe Prize for Food History, visit: http://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/

The professionals

Real Bread and Real Ale
There might be the opportunity for a Real Bread baker to take a food stand (e.g sandwiches, pies etc. as well as Real loaves) at the Great British Beer Festivalat Earl's Court from 3rd-7th August.  The festival will see around 65,000 people who care about their ale, many of whom may well care about their bread, too. If you are interested in finding our more, please contact Chris Young ASAP.

Job vacancy: artisan baker
The award winning Old Farmhouse Bakeryin Oxfordshire seeks experienced full time artisan baker for five consecutive nights a week. No management involved but hands on skills and oven work essential as are good time keeping and organisation. Very good salary. Please send your CV along with a photo and references if available to oldfarmhousebakery@bythemeadowfarm.co.uk

Mobile bread oven wanted
London Community Resource Network has invited us to do some Real Bread making in their learning space at Camden Green Fair on 6th June. Thing is, we don't know of anyone with a  mobile bread oven. If you have one that you'd be willing to lend to us please get in touch with Chris Young. Turning up with just some leaflets and a banner seems a bit dull in comparison.

Special offers
Would you like to offer a discount or deal to paid-up Real Bread campaign members, either professionals or passionate punters?

Real Bread for the Olympics
The 2012 Olympic Village alone will use something like 25,000 loaves - can you help to ensure that London 2012 keeps it Real?

Baking Industry Exhibition 21st-24th March
If anyone's going to BIE at the NEC, please don't forget to spread the word about the campaign.  If you want to take some campaign leaflets along, please let Chris Young know ASAP.  Oh, and please drop by the stand of campaign member Doves Farm to say hi.

BBC One seeks baker family to go back in time
Are you a professional baker who is fascinated by the history of your trade? Imagine taking your work and your family back to the glory days of the High Street. Could you show modern customers what good old fashioned service really means? Would you like to explore the techniques, technology and opening hours of the past? Have a family with children aged between 8-18 years old?

If you answer to all of the above is 'yes' and you are able to relocate your family to a picturesque High Street in a modern day market town in the South West for for the duration of the filming (9-10 weeks) this summer, the producers would like to hear from you. For more details of this exciting opportunity, please contact Michael Fraser on 020 7241 9349, or email michael.fraser@walltowall.co.uk

Sippets

•    Flour fortification: Think all that's in a bag of flour is just flour?
•    Additives: some information on what else could go into a factory loaf
•    See John Letts of the Oxford Bread Group in a recent edition of BBC2's Mastercrafts
•    Brockwell Bake Association is launched
•    Think that you might be Britain's best amateur baker? then BBC2's The Great British Bake Off wants to hear from you
•    Flour Power City Bakery will be featured in a BBC2 schools programme i-D&T on Tuesday 16th March at 11.30am
•    More events
•    More companions

End Crust

'Thousands in civic life will, for years, and perhaps as long as they live, eat the most miserable trash that can be imagined, in the form of bread, and never seem to think that they can possibly have anything better, nor even that it is an evil to eat such stuff as they do.'

Sylvester Graham, Treatise on bread, and bread making, Light & Stearns, Boston 1837.

February

Things have really gathered momentum in the past few weeks. We now have so many members that posting out the first print edition of True Loaf out took the best part of a day; we have taken on a volunteer (hi, Anna) to knock the pilot scheme for Lessons in Loaf into shape; and I spent two night shifts at Fifteen London for a glimpse at the bread making skills that form part of their apprenticeship scheme.

But enough about us in the office – how are you and what are you up to?

Happy baking

Chris

…………………………………………….

True Loaf
As mentioned above, this quarter's edition of True Loaf magazine is out now, packed with Real Bread news, interviews and features.  If you're a member, you should have received your copy, so please let us know what you think.  If you've yet to join, this full colour mag is the perfect excuse to do so.
https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/membership/

Joining the dots
The Real Bread Campaign is all about helping people around the country to share ideas and information with each other. One tool we are using to help people make connections is The Real Baker-e, the virtual meeting place for campaign members.  If you're a member but not yet joined the conversation, please do.

Lessons in Loaf
Hello, professional Real Bread bakers. Further to the email we sent last week, if any more of you have experience of bread making in a primary schools and are happy for Chris and Anna to pick your brains, please get in touch. Likewise if you are interested in chatting about the possibility of taking part in the pilot scheme.

Real Bread Blog
Posts so far this month are from campaign supporter, Nadia Bunce, casting a wistful eye at bread across the Channel and campaign project officer Chris reporting on his mini-apprenticeship at Fifteen London.  https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/blog/

The Oxford Bread Group
Our friends at the Oxford Bread Grouphave just been awarded a grant for £25,805 from the Southern Oxfordshire Leader programme.  This will enable the group to purchase agricultural equipment to allow them to increase the range of heritage wheat varieties that they can grow, not only for bread flour but also for long-stem thatching straw.

Anyone in/around Oxford interested in receiving bread or flour through the group, in volunteering opportunities, or further information, can contact Sally Lane on (01865) 243777, or at order[at]oxfordlocalbread.org www.oxfordlocalbread.org

Kids - bake your lawn!
Championing the rise of Real Bread in south London, The Brockwell Bakeis now inviting local community groups on a journey from seed to sandwich.  This March, Andy Forbes and co will be providing spring wheat for sowing, then offer ongoing support from planting, through to harvesting, milling and baking Real Bread.

If you are involved in a south London school or other community group garden project and are interested in baking your lawn, please email Andy: atty[at]area3.net

Baker my neighbour
Campaign member Gaye Whitwam is hoping to start a scheme in which families bake at home to make Real Bread accessible to a neighbour or two.  If anyone has advice that Gaye might find useful or lives around Wallington in Surrey (between Croydon and Sutton) or is interested in helping her to develop this, please email Gaye: stickymitts[at]blueyonder.co.uk

Calling St Helens
We've been contacted by a food co-op group in St Helens, dying to help get Real Bread into their local community. Trouble is, no baker we've contacted in the Liverpool area has accepted our invitation to add loaves that meet our definition the Real Bread Finder. If you are interested in an order of around 100 loaves of Real Bread a week, please get in touch with us. 

I'm dying to help – what can I do?
The Real Bread Campaign isn't just a couple of people in a London office and a few celeb bakers – we are a collective of hundreds of individuals and organisations nationwide, all doing our bit for the cause.

So, don't be shy - how about letting everyone else know what you are up to? 

  • Perhaps you've a home baking tip that might seem obvious but could really help another member? 
  • Are you a professional baker who has kicked the habit of artificial additives and could help advise another who wants to go cold turkey?  
  • Do you teach bread making skills locally?  
  • Are you organising an event that will have a bready element to it?  
  • Are you struggling with an issue locally that others might have faced and overcome?

Then join the conversation at The Real Baker-e, in our Facebook group, on Twitter or drop us a line in the office.

And as always, we're keen to receive your news stories, pictures and articles for True Loaf, Breadcrumbs and the Real Bread blog.

End Crust

“The people of Britain need to be reminded that bread is not just a way to keep your fingers dry when eating a sandwich.”

Andrew Wheeler, Eat Britain: 101 Great British Tastes


January 2010

2010: aren't we all meant to be wearing silver jumpsuits and driving hover cars by now?

Though it might seem an age ago already, I hope that you had a great Christmas and New Year.

Since last month hundreds more people who share our Real Bread values have signed up to show their support  for the campaign and to receive Breadcrumbs.

Even better is that so many of you have gone one step further and become a paid-up, card-carrying Real Bread Campaign member.  Thank you.

Happy baking

Chris Young
Project Officer
The Real Bread Campaign

True Loaf
Issue two of True Loaf, the exclusive magazine for Real Bread Campaign members, features our interview with Caroline Conran. Read her memories of her involvement in the 1980 Campaign for Real Bread and just what she thought of Elizabeth David's home baking.

True Loaf is with our designers and will be winging its way to campaign members later this month.  If you haven't joined up yet, you can do so at our membership page

Bakers Support
We've set up a Real Bread bakers support section on our website on which we will collect together information and advice for Real Bread bakers (and those thinking about becoming one) from our members, supporters and other experts.  Not a lot on there right now but it will grow; If you have anything that you'd like to share with others to help support your flour-dusted fellows, please get in touch.

Community Supported Baking
November's Rise of Real Bread conference confirmed that there is growing interest in the idea of Community Supported Baking (CSB).  We'll be working with the conference's organisers, LandShare CIC and others on Rise Up, a CSB tool kit. In the meantime, we've set up a CSB information page

Special Offers
The latest addition to offers for Real Bread Campaign members comes in the shape of a 20% discount on various courses at Manna From Devon in Kingswear.

blog
Mulberry founder and now Sharpham Park head honcho, campaign working party member Roger Saul, tells us about his passion for spelt:  https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/blog/

Sippets

and no, that's not a typo…

Real Bread Radio
In case you missed the Real Bread edition of Radio 4's Food Programme, featuring interviews from The Rise of Real Bread with several campaign members you can listen to it at: http://bit.ly/7oJjAQ

Dragons' Den
Any Real Bread bakers fancy entering BBC2's Dragons Den?  They are taking applications now http://bit.ly/1rzTXA

The Great British Bake Off
Staying with BBC2, the channel is looking for amateur bakers across the country to take part in The Great British Bake Off.  If you are interested, please email baking@loveproductions.co.uk

Bakery CO2 reduction case study
Page 52 of the government's 2030 food strategy gives a Carbon Trust case study of the Cavan Bakery reducing its energy consumption and CO2 output

GM crops talk
On 21st January (18:00 – 20:30), the British Library is holding a Talk Science event entitled:  'GM crops and food security: curing the world's growing pains?' For details and tickets, visit http://www.bl.uk/science
 
Wanted: local food collaboration case studies
Local food organisation f3 is seeking case studies of food micro hubs, modest scale collaborations between producers. For example six neighbouring producers of different commodities working jointly and informally on marketing and distribution. They are particularly interested in those with any experience of developing software to track delivery needs and offers to help producers share van space.  For more information and contact details, visit http://www.sustainablesupplychains.org.uk/

End Crust

There is a tradition that whoever eats the last piece of bread must kiss the baker
(I picked up this 'fact' from my friend Google, so it might or might not be true….)


Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.

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