Love your loaf- Bread is indeed life

THERE aren’t too many phrases in today’s lexicon that seem as vulnerable to revision as “the best thing since the sliced pan”. 

For many reasons, consumer subjugation foremost amongst them, today’s sliced pan can epitomise factory food produced relentlessly on a grand, industrial scale. So much so that phrase might be revised in a 360-degree way ... “the worst thing since the sliced pan”.

In a world where so many of us are time-poor, this seems an inevitable concession.

However, it would be worthwhile from myriad perspectives to consider what many might regard as a daft notion — occasionally baking our own bread.

It’s easier than ever imagined and uplifting in so many ways.

National Bread Week has just passed. It was designed to reawaken the great Irish tradition of bread-making, one that demands far less time than it takes to go to the shop to buy something iffy.

In a world that imagines using a microwave is cooking, this is a noble ambition. In a world where we race from one imagined obligation to the next, developing the habit of occasionally baking would be a stepping stone to a saner, healthier place.