Our Daily Bread Going Toasted — and Wasted
What Does That Tell Us About Our Choices?
I read an article the other day on seven less-known facts about bread in Germany, but what made me stop and think was a casual statement that was lost between the seven facts.
Mainly, the seven facts were related to the wealth of bread choices, and the value placed on quality of bread making in Germany.
Did you know that Germany’s the world champion in bread making?
I’ve put some of the figures on this visual to give you an idea.
And yet, the most popular sort of bread in Germany is — no, not wheat, not rye, not wholemeal.
The toast bread.
The 3000 bread sorts across Germany are apparently not wide enough a choice. True, the 3000 sorts are a total sum; locally, the range is much more limited.
But still: we are talking about varieties of bread that are made by professional bakers, sometimes family businesses, local producers.
Whereas the toast bread is an industrial product.
Significantly less nutritious, with a bland taste and the texture of rubber once it’s cooled off after toasting. Coming in just about three or four variations, across Germany.
It might be the price, the sweeter taste, or the convenience of storing it longer. The possible reasons are immaterial here. I’m not going to comment on them, nor am I going to plead for one or another dietary choice.
I like toast bread, too. Once in a while.
What I’m writing about is the stark contrast between the range of options and the choice we settle for.
The momentum built by the impressive “less-known facts about bread in Germany” was smashed with this by-the-way anticlimax. It brought my mind to an abrupt halt and re-think.
It made me reflect on what it is that we value; and, once we know we value it, how we choose to nurture it.
Because 3000 sorts of bread, quality-monitored by a Bread Institute, do not come out of the void. There must be a) an abundance, favoured by the local conditions, that makes it possible, and b) an appreciation by the community that nurtures it.
And yet? How do the people align with that, in their final choice?
I’m asking you to stop reading, raise your eyes, and wonder:
• Is there something I have in abundance which I’m not putting to its best use?
• Am I making a steady choice that is not giving me the nourishment I need?
• If I do appreciate the abundance I’m fortunate with, how am I supporting it if I’m not using it?
There’s little point in being proud of a tradition if we don’t embody it. Liking a shop but not buying its products.
We wake up one day seeing it’s gone and lament the world going to the dogs.
This post was inspired by Modern Women’s June prompt: nourishment.
