In ancient times bread was considered a most prized food. Many times, the quality of the ingredients and baking methods were under the king’s strict regulation. This artisan bread was made from whole grains, so it naturally packed an array of body blessing nutrients. In those days, bread was rightly called the “staff of life.” Unfortunately, over the hundreds of years since that idyllic time, this seemingly magical food has been through many dangerous digressions, ultimately leading to a nutrient-deficient, carb-rich product.
In the 1960’s and 70’s we had the counterculture movement that protested against industrialized foods, that is, anything that was grown with pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and made with additives, preservatives, flavorings, and other unnatural ingredients. They wanted to go back to a simpler, more nutritious way of eating whole foods. They even believed yeasted bread was unhealthy, and since bread was central to the American diet, they set out to revolutionizing it as a way of taking control of their health. Back then Wonder Bread and Roman Meal were the hype. You may remember those days. The drought of real bread reached it’s height in the 1980’s, early 90’s. A plethora of issues started surfacing, such as Celiac disease, gluten sensitivities and all sorts of allergies (corn, oat and soy), along with allergies to harsh commercial yeasts and much, much more. People began removing bread entirely from their diet. A grass roots movement of “natural food stores” started springing up to provide better food options, but what’s interesting is, bread didn’t make much progress, and if you were gluten-intolerant, you may as well have said good-bye to bread altogether. The world has come a long way since then, yet even with the many gluten-free, allergen-free options out there, most have little to no real nutritional value. Since nutrition is key in the healing process, this poses a real problem for those who are struggling with serious health issues.
The Solution:
Simple Kneads has created a nutritious and delicious gluten-free, true artisan sourdough bread that’s sole aim is to bring healing and balance back to the body. But what exactly is true artisan sourdough? This means we do not use commercial or baker’s yeast to make our bread rise. Instead, we use a starter – a fermented flour and water mixture that contains wild yeast and good bacteria. We make our bread the way bread was made in ancient times, and before the introduction of commercial yeasts! This is critical for health and healing!
“Natural leavened bread, because of its inherent beneficial ferments, slowly re-creates the population of friendly lactobacillus digestive bacteria in the absorption tract. The end result is recovery of the digestion and proper elimination by the effective action of friendly bacteria.” (Naturally Leavened Bread by Jacques de Langre).
“Baking with natural leaven is in harmony with nature and maintains the integrity and nutrition of the cereal grains used … The process helps to increase and reinforce our body’s absorption of the cereal’s nutrients.” (Excerpt from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions.)
True artisan sourdough has supported human health for thousands of years and rightly done, continues to bring health and healing back to many. This bread is truly the “staff of life.”
Sandy K Workman
SK Director of Brand Development
