Much of my understanding of bread has come from many years of collecting historical images around bread and farming. These images are some of my favourite spanning the collection of bread history in my library at The Sourdough School.
My first wages from the bakery as an apprentice were spent on an image of bread being made from an Brocante in Terrasson-Lavilledieu in Southwest France. I felt connected to baking, but more than that, it sparked a curiosity about images in comprehending our bread and the relationship between the way we bake eat and share bread and agricultural history.
Reflecting on technological progress is crucial, especially considering the impact of bread on our health today. These images are ordered in a timeline giving social context and, depicting the communal aspects of baking, daily life, and how bread making evolved.
The images offer insights into agrarian economies, agro-economics, and how changes in our economic structure have impacted food. They illustrate the impact of agricultural practices on production, highlighting the relationship between geography, agriculture, and the types of bread produced with different grains.
Click on the image to enlarge – this is a large gallery and can take minute or two to load.
I have chosen these images because when viewed in order they provide invaluable insights (especially when viewing bread through an evolutionary lens) allowing us to see a timeline of the technological advancements and the Industrial Revolution. These details are key to how the BALM protocol, that we use at The School evolved and and they reveal the innovations in farming, milling, harvesting, kneading with machines, and how baking has been transformed over the centuries from nourishing us and working synergistically with nature, to the ultra processed bread that the majority of people eat today.