Quote Originally Posted by redrhodie View Post
Bread is crazy expensive. Many bakeries are going out of business. I assume it's becoming impossible to make a profit from a small bakery.

That's where the advantage to living in a city or town comes in. Folks can walk to their local bakery, supporting a local business and keeping their neighbors employed and keeping their local community vibrant - and save themselves the price of gas.

The big corporate bakeries ship bread to big stores, adding one more link in the oil chain. The store wants to maximize its profits, so buys the cheapest bread that can be shipped. The larger bakeries win with their cheaper bread that can dilute the cost of shipping.

We have a lot of independent bakeries that do counter sales. They also sell bread to the independent grocery stores. (Wal-Mart is not allowed within the city limits, thank goodness!) I can walk into my neighborhood market and find products from at least 4 local bakeries. One independent store in walking distance has its own bakery, but still sells stuff from local bakeries as well. I can walk to 2 free-standing bakeries easily (I'm not counting the one inside the independent grocery store... that would be 3).

Cheap bread may take less money from my pocket, but it is devastatingly expensive to my community and my quality of life.

"Keep it Small, Keep it Local."