Loaves of Love

Nationwide bread baking initiative Loaves of Love launched on 5 July
 
Restoring the bread making skills of the past and encouraging sustainability of both planet and relationships is the brainchild of Bristol mum and Transition Town group member Inez Aponte, whose ‘Loaves of Love’ initiative begins on 5 July in association with Devon-based sustainable community Embercombe, Resurgence Slow Sunday and the Transition Town Group.
 
Loaves of Love aims to inspire people to host bread baking circles in their homes with friends, old and new. Everyone who comes along, and learns to bake bread, then passes the skill on by hosting a circle of their own within a month, encouraging the entire nation to get baking.Storyteller Inez Aponte had the idea for Loaves of Love after listening to Satish Kumar saying ‘If you haven’t got time to bake a loaf of bread, you haven’t got time to save the planet’.   Inez says “I realised how much we rush around, never having time for some of the basic things in life, and that this rushing is one of the reasons we find ourselves in the environmental and social crisis we are in.”
 
Baking bread fulfils so many of the criteria that make people happy:  spending time together, eating good food, feeling in control of and understanding where our food comes from. Inez explains, “With bread making, the natural action of the yeast demands that you wait as the bread rises. It can’t be hurried – and it’s a wonderful opportunity to spend time with friends and at the end of it you have a feast of home baked bread.”
 
The ingredients are key – says Inez “The additives found in industrial bread are simply unnecessary – anything more than flour and yeast in the mix has to be questioned – unless it’s seeds, fruit or nuts.”  She is also keen to explore bread from other cultures as a way of bringing people together. “Bread has such a rich heritage – we have been baking for over 6000 years. From people learning more about each other’s bread, they will also learn more about each other – that’s why we’ve called it Loaves of Love. You’ll notice one of the ingredients for a Loaf of Love is a ‘friendly stranger’ – the word ‘companion’ means someone you break bread with, so maybe a stranger is just someone you haven’t made bread with yet!”
 
Devon-based sustainable community Embercombe supports Loaves of Love as the initiative reflects their own active interest in community-based bread baking.  At Embercombe, people of all ages, from 5 up, regularly make bread together in the venue’s outdoor ovens or kitchens. Anyone who is interested can attend a monthly Friends Working Weekend for free at Embercombe in Devon – www.embercombe.co.uk
 
How to Bake a Loaf of Love
Ingredients:
A few friends
A Friendly Stranger
Flour, water, yeast and salt
Oven
Mix with: Stories, laughter and inspiration
Time: One long lazy afternoon
Remember: To pass the skills and – the love – on and on and on…
 
Recipes for bread and for happiness are posted on the website:  www.loavesoflove.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Breadmaking
2. Charity of the Month: Embercombe
3. Embercombe's Sustainable Parenting Weekend 2-4 May 2009
4. School Holidays – Dream or Disaster?
5. Children prepare to celebrate with Embercombe Country Fair 1-6 June 2009

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