Why You Need to Stop Baking Bread by Caren White


Baking bread is a way of life for me, not a hobby.  Not something to do just to pass the time.  I don’t eat store-bought bread.  I rarely eat prepared foods of any kind.  If you visited my kitchen, you would find food but nothing to eat because I only stock ingredients.  I do all of my own cooking and backing.  On Saturday nights, I don’t order pizza, I make it.  From scratch.  Including the crust.  I also grow my own popcorn, but that’s a topic for another day.

You see, I am one of THOSE people.  You know the ones.  You offer them a plate of food and they look at it suspiciously asking “Is that organic?” I was to know what is in my food so I make it myself.  By the way, croutons? Make from my homemade bread.  Breading for fried chicken?  Made from my homemade bread.  Stuffing for the Thanksgiving turkey?  Made from my homemade bread.  So when you buy up all of the flour and leavening ingredients for the sake of pretty photos on your Instagram feed you are literally taking food from my mouth.  And the mouths of other families who also do their own their baking so that they can provide healthy food for their families.

Here’s the problem.  It’s Economics 101.  Supply and Demand. Before the pandemic, very few people did scratch baking so the grocery stores carried only limited supplies of flour and leavening.  Both go bad, so they don’t want it hanging around the shelves for too long. Hence the limited quantities.  That was okay.  There was always enough for those of us who needed it.  But there is not enough now that we are competing with a bunch of dilettante bakers who care nothing for anyone but themselves.

Yes, I know that sounds harsh, but I’m willing to bet that not a single one of them stopped to think as they grabbed the last of the flour and the yeast that they were robbing other people’s children of their daily bread.  Nope.  I’m certain all they cared about was how impressed everyone was going to be with their picture perfect loaves of bread.

Here’s an idea.  If you are bored and want to learn new skills, why don’t you learn how to garden and impress everyone with your tomatoes?  Or how about learning how to sew to make masks for hospitals and first responders?  I know, learn to crochet so you can make those cute market bags for when you go to the farmer’s market.

But, please, please, I’m begging you, stop baking bread.

Originally posted on Medium.com under the name Caren White on April 29, 2020 and subsequently deleted

Comments

  1. The smug notion that others must stop baking bread so she - who has the rare privilage of TIME & MONEY to make everything she eats from scratch - can find her ingredients, reveals the thought process of elitists. Like a child, their first exposure to sharing is fought with indignant tantrums.

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  3. You can order your flour, or any other non perishable goods, online easily. Others may not have this privilege. Also, bread is not an essential dietary need. In fact some see it as processed and bad for you. We are all making sacrifices during this time, if this is the one thing you are sacrificing then you are quite lucky as it is minimal. We are vegan and many of the produce items we eat almost daily were sold out, but instead of being upset that people were eating healthier and actually cooking their meals, I was happy that people had the time to develop these skills and instead purchased alternatives. I'm also in the early stages of a cancer diagnosis and unable to get my surgery until they are allowed again. It is essential that I eat organic fresh foods to help keep my immunity up and prevent further growth of the breast tumor, but I STILL would not be upset if I could not find these items in the store because that's just how it is because we are ALL having to do without in some way. Instead of being upset that people are buying "your" food items, instead turn that anger into something positive. Teach some online classes on cooking from scratch. Have a seminar on how you find the time to eat completely from scratch foods. Show your budget on how you afford all these organic products that are much more expensive. That is what i'm doing, using my skills to help others instead of being angry at the things I am unable to control. It is unhealthy to harbor anger or resentment.

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  4. Hahahahahahahaha wow this has got to be the most Karen thing ever written. Can't get more Karen than Caren WITH A C GET IT RIGHT, last name White.

    Thank you Caren for reminding me of the absurd things that go through privileged people's heads.

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  5. She didn't report any allergy or anything that would make it impossible to consume store-baked bread. Given that, people weren't taking food from her mouth. They were just interfering with her ability to be SPECIAL.

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