1000 Flowers for the Planet - #307 Bake Your Own Bread
Perhaps the first question that would come to
mind when suggesting baking your own bread would be the cost factor. There are
many variables to costing a loaf of home-made bread, from the number and
quality of the ingredients to the amount of power/energy used to bake the loaf.
However, in general, a home baked loaf of bread will cost less than a store bought
loaf. So there’s the first benefit. Further benefits are the joy of producing
something yourself – some people even become avid hobby bakers – and making
something your family will enjoy. Home baked bread can be adjusted to suit your
diet by changing the flour used, or adding seeds and other healthy ingredients.
Many people love the smell of freshly baked bread – it’s a homely smelly and
incites memories of childhood and being comfy and secure.
If you bake your own bread, the planet will
benefit too. Firstly, you won’t be bringing plastic bags into your home, which
then need disposing of, hopefully through a recycling program, but that uses
even more energy in the recycling process, a cost that needs to be added to the
initial energy usage of baking the store bread in the first place. The bread
also comes with one of those annoying plastic tags used to hold the plastic bag
shut. If these end up in landfill, as so many of them do, they become those
tiny pieces of plastic that end up in birds’ stomachs. They are responsible for
contributing to the death of animals and bird life. If we can avoid them
altogether it is better for fauna everywhere.
When we bake for ourselves we appreciate the
time and effort that goes into preparing our food, and therefore the value of
that food is increased and the food is eaten more responsibly. No one wants to
make a loaf of bread only to throw it in the compost when it’s gone mouldy.
Baking bread reduces food waste, produces a
healthier product, saves money, protects fauna and water systems, and brings
less plastic into our homes.
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