Not wanting "organic" bread

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Except that she was in an artisanal bakery....

But if cost were the issue, she wouldn't have been in that bakery at all.

She may well have no idea what an "artisanal bakery" is! I didn't a couple of years ago. It's quite likely that she is from a place where a bakery is a bakery. Lots of people go to a bakery because the bread is (or used to be) fresher than from supermarket shelves.

Another possibly is that she has the idea that 'organic' bread means whole grain non-white bread with a hard chewy consistency (this is a pretty common notion), and she just wanted white fluffy bread. And maybe her descriptive vocabulary was limited.
In the Caribbean and Puerto Rico (where I lived for many years), the average person thinks that bread that is very white and very soft and very fluffy is superior bread that you can be proud to serve. Harder chewy non-white bread with grain bits is looked upon with suspicion as being crude, perhaps even stale. The softer, whiter, and fluffier the better. And any good homemaker goes directly to the local bakery to buy bread, not the supermarket.

[shootingstar]

She may well have no idea what an "artisanal bakery" is! I didn't a couple of years ago. It's quite likely that she is from a place where a bakery is a bakery. Lots of people go to a bakery because the bread is (or used to be) fresher than from supermarket shelves.

Another possibly is that she has the idea that 'organic' bread means whole grain non-white bread with a hard chewy consistency (this is a pretty common notion), and she just wanted white fluffy bread. And maybe her descriptive vocabulary was limited.
In the Caribbean and Puerto Rico (where I lived for many years), the average person thinks that bread that is very white and very soft and very fluffy is superior bread that you can be proud to serve. Harder chewy non-white bread with grain bits is looked upon with suspicion as being crude, perhaps even stale. The softer, whiter, and fluffier the better. And any good homemaker goes directly to the local bakery to buy bread, not the supermarket.

I suspect it is true that her definition of bakery is merely bread that is fresher than supermarket.

Would agree on different attitudes in other parts of the world, that there is in minds of some folks that "white", soft and fluffy bread is seen as superior and even status-oriented. (ie. an implication one has money to buy Western style food, etc.)

Until last 10 years, many of the Chinese grocery stores in Chinatowns I've been in, rarely carried hardly or no brown rice at all in large amounts. (Black rice is for occasional, specialized dishes). Brown rice is viewed by traditional minded folks, as crude, low status/peasant. Regardless of brown rice's real health benefits.

Certainly one does not offer in temples...brown rice to the "gods". It tends to be white rice. Sorry, to mix comments on rice vs. bread, but that is the other major carb. where similiar attitude exists of "white" is 'better' in the minds of some folks.


Japanese cuisine does seem to integrate into some traditional dishes, some brown rice.

Well, Bleeckerstgirl, if you want to open your own bakery, you already know how to market that bread!

[shootingstar]

As for storage of the bread and not having it presliced, I learned from my partner, who learned from his mother..

It takes us several days to eat the bread, depending on loaf size. No, we don't put it into the freezer. Eh, it doesn't bother me, as long as there's no mold.

Our bread source: http://www.terrabreads.com

Other source is abit more expensive, but 1-2 types not listed, we enjoy. http://www.labaguette.ca/home.html See their notes on shelf life.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I suspect it is true that her definition of bakery is merely bread that is fresher than supermarket.

Would agree on different attitudes in other parts of the world, that there is in minds of some folks that "white", soft and fluffy bread is seen as superior and even status-oriented. (ie. an implication one has money to buy Western style food, etc.)

Until last 10 years, many of the Chinese grocery stores in Chinatowns I've been in, rarely carried hardly or no brown rice at all in large amounts. (Black rice is for occasional, specialized dishes). Brown rice is viewed by traditional minded folks, as crude, low status/peasant. Regardless of brown rice's real health benefits.

Certainly one does not offer in temples...brown rice to the "gods". It tends to be white rice. Sorry, to mix comments on rice vs. bread, but that is the other major carb. where similiar attitude exists of "white" is 'better' in the minds of some folks.


Japanese cuisine does seem to integrate into some traditional dishes, some brown rice.

Well, Bleeckerstgirl, if you want to open your own bakery, you already know how to market that bread!

All true!

I've gotten back into baking our own bread for the past couple of months, and I do find the bread stays perfectly fresh for several days without being refrigerated. It's cool.
It's odd not going to the bakery much anymore. Still not sure whether this is a permanent thing, but so far I am enjoying it!

It's been years since i was in Puerto Rico, but surely there must be some whole grain bread there by now.....

Oddly enough, at our house, basically white bread is still the favorite, even when home made.
Not organic, but unbleached and no weird stuff or preservatives added! ;D

[Pedal Wench]

Funny - the Terra Breads aren't 100% organic either.

[smilingcat]

The bread I bake isn't organic. I don't use 100% organic flour. Yeast is yeast comes in 2 pound block I keep in the freezer. Salt is inorganic so none of this organic non-organic. Butter I use isn't organic either nor the milk use. I often use milk in place of water.

Much to my horror, my partner bought a Trader Joe brand of organic artisian bread the other day.

[Cataboo]

Hmmm. Half vietnamese here - being a french colony made crusty french baguettes part of the Vietnamese culture. Not to mention "expresso" with condensed milk. I couldn't say definitely, but I'd assume that the parts of society eating french bread were the more educated & higher classes, since those were the ones that were learning french, etc. So I wouldn't say all asians would have a problem with crusty or hard bread.

That being said... after dating a belgian guy for several years, I can definitely appreciate good bread, however I don't/can't see bread as a dietary staple. I find it constipating and just don't feel as good on it as opposed to a diet with rice as a dietary staple. I'm more than fine with brown rice or wild rice and will often mix it in with white rice (it's hard to beat a 25 lb bag of white rice for $12). I mostly figure that half my ancestors evolved eating rice as a dietary staple for however many generations, and that's just what's natural for me.

I do like some bread on occasion, and will usually just go to costco and get their big bag of ciabata for $5 or some of their other bread offerings, eat a bit and freeze the rest to use when I want bread.

As for organic vs. non-organic food... I basically am more interested in locally produced food as opposed to organic food. An organic bell pepper that has been trucked across the country to me to buy for $5.99 a lb seems silly vs. going to the local farmers market and buying a bell pepper that may or may not be organic but didn't have to be trucked across the country.

I also take the term organic with a grain of salt... given that the regulations on what can call itself organic are fairly loose. I don't avoid organic food, but I will usually only buy it if it's the same price or just moderately more than the non-organic alternative. I'm more likely to buy milk from cows that haven't been treated with bovine growth hormone for $3 than organic milk for $5 vs. non-organic bgh treated milk for $2.50

And I'm a bit skeptical that we're going to feed the entire world on organic farming... I definitely believe in smarter farming than what we're currently doing. I grow some herbs & some veggies in my yard

[papaver]

As for organic vs. non-organic food... I basically am more interested in locally produced food as opposed to organic food. An organic bell pepper that has been trucked across the country to me to buy for $5.99 a lb seems silly vs. going to the local farmers market and buying a bell pepper that may or may not be organic but didn't have to be trucked across the country.

I couldn't agree more.

[msincredible]

As for organic vs. non-organic food... I basically am more interested in locally produced food as opposed to organic food. An organic bell pepper that has been trucked across the country to me to buy for $5.99 a lb seems silly vs. going to the local farmers market and buying a bell pepper that may or may not be organic but didn't have to be trucked across the country.

+2, I try to buy locally as much as possible, we are also trying to grow some of our own.

BTW I am amused by people who think that because I am vegan, it is even more important that I eat organic veggies/fruit than the omnivores. Pesticides etc. tend to concentrate as you go higher up on the food chain.