Wednesday 24 September 2014

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #307 Bake Your Own Bread

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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