Our mission is to find and share ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet.
Photo by Chris Young / realbreadcampaign.org CC-BY-SA 4.0
The Real Bread Campaign is run by the charity Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming,
We want everyone to have the chance to choose Real Bread
Our mission is to find and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet.
Support our charity's work:
The Real Bread Campaign was co-founded by Sustain and Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters and officially launched on 26 November 2008.
Our universally-accessible defintion of bread is simply that it is made without any so-called 'processing aids' or other additives.
From this starting point we:
Call for an Honest Crust Act to protect everyone's right to know the full truth about a loaf before they buy.
Champion and support small, local, independent Real Bread bakeries, for example with our free Real Bread Map, the book Knead to Know, The Real Bread Loaf Mark, the No Loaf Lost surplus reduction project, annual events including Real Bread Week and Sourdough September, and ongoing media work.
Run the Together We Rise project to help people living with mental health issues or otherwise having a tougher time than most of us, to benefit from baking Real Bread
Have helped more than 10,000 children in at least 150 schools learn to make Real Bread through our Lessons in Loaf and Bake Your Lawn initiatives
Help people to get baking Real Bread at home
More generally, we:
You don't have to be a baker to join the Campaign!
Though many people who support us are professional bakers, the majority do so because they share our love for Real Bread and concern for obstacles to its rise and want to support our charity's work.
For many years we have received no grants or other funding for the Campaign, meaning we mainly rely on annual supporter contributions, doughnations and income generated by Real Bread gifts.
Not a supporter yet? Join us now
NB Our Real Bread Map is a service we offer free of charge to shoppers and Real Bread bakers. Inclusion is independent of being a Campaign supporter.
Drawing upon setting up and running The Village Bakery Melmerby (one of Britain’s first organic bakeries) for 25 years, Andrew Whitley is author of books including the seminal Bread Matters, which won the Andre Simon Food Book Award in 2006. Andrew also won the judges' special prize at the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2011.
Andrew is co-founder of Bread Matters bakery school and consultancy; and of Scotland The Bread, working to relocalise the country’s loaf life based around heritage grains, sustainable farming and Real Bread bakers.
The Real Bread Campaign encourages everyone in our international supporter network not only to champion Real Bread, but also to promote the values and work of the Campaign.
From this netwrk we invite people to volunteer to fly the flag harder and higher as official Campaign ambassadors
Since March 2009 the Campaign has been coordinated by Chris Young, who began as a volunteer after attending a course run by Andrew Whitley in November 2008.
Chris draws on the knowledge and expertise of the Campaign’s network of supporters and friends for advice, guidance and practical help. He relies upon Sustain colleagues for management, finance, design and IT support. He is assisted by part-time volunteers and advised by a working party of people with relevant knowledge and expertise by experience.
Chris reports to Sustain’s management team of Sarah Williams, Kath Dalmeny and Ben Reynolds.
Social media
Follow us on...
Real Bread Campaign supporters have access to The Real Baker-e, our forum hosted by Facebook.
If you'd like to get in touch, please email realbread@sustainweb.org
Please note that the Campaign coordinator only works at Sustain three days a week, usually Monday to Wednesday, and cannot guarantee same day replies - sometimes he's only able to clear out the inbox once a week.
For media queries only, you can email Campaign coordinator Chris Young: chris@sustainweb.org
Chris will try to give a same day response to media queries received Monday to Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday a Sustain colleague might be able to help, though none works on bread, so might well have to redirect you. Perhaps one of our official campaign ambassadors could help?
Campaign cofounder Andrew Whitley works closely with Sustain but not for the charity. He can be contacted at Bread Matters.
Since June 2013, the only income that Sustain has received to enables us to keep running the Real Bread Campaign is from:
We knead your dough!
Currently, Sustain is only able to staff the Campaign on a part-time basis - one member of dedicated staff, three days a week.
YOU can help to change that by supporting us in one of the ways above.
We also continue to work to secure additional income from by applying for charitable grants.
As part of the charity Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming, the Real Bread Campaign is independent from the agri-food industry.
In line with Sustain's general policy, the Campaign does not accept funding from any source which would compromise, or even appear to compromise, the alliance’s principles.
The Real Bread Campaign does not endorse or promote any one Real Bread bakery, baker, course, publication or organisation over another.
Supporter network
You don't need to be a baker to join us! Everyone can become a Campaign supporter, either as an individual or as a representative of a company or other organisation.
Real Bread Map listing
Inclusion in our Real Bread Map is solely dependent on the product shown being what we define as Real Bread. A listings there, on our events calendar, courses or any other pages of our site does not necessarily imply endorsement.
Advertising/sponsorship
In line with Sustain policy, the Real Bread Campaign accepts no sponsorship from profit making organisations in the food and farming sector. The only money accepted from such companies/organisations are standard supporter payments in return for standard benefits.
Campaign logos
If a Campaign supporter chooses to display our 'proud to support...' badge, it simply signifies just that - they support the Campaign. The appearance of our supporter badge is not an assurance that Real Bread standards are being met.
For details of our separate Real Bread Loaf Mark scheme, please click here.
We are working on this and plan to publish it in April 2021.
In the meantime, you can read Sustain’s commitment to tackling racial injustice in the food system
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Pledge now so we can publish Knead to Know...more to inform and inspire the next wave of microbakers bringing Real Bread to the hearts of their local communities!
Real Bread Campaign
C/o Sustain
The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London E2 9DA
0203 5596 777
realbread@sustainweb.org
The Real Bread Campaign is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.
© Sustain 2021
Registered charity (no. 1018643)
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