Blue-Sky Thoughts

Shocking facts in today's paper (assuming it is true, which I have not confirmed): 90% of the bread consumed in UK is white. Added to that, "most" (% unspecified) of that white bread contains soya flour.

Naive me, in my comfy middle-class bubble, thought that the revived enthusiasm for "real", artisan bread would amount to more than 10% wholemeal. Not so. The inclusion of soya is a deeper mystery, and the Internet is not very forthcoming. "Better processing qualities and a softer crumb" is the closest I got to a fact. Does "softer crumb" mean "resembles cotton wool"?

A Reading research scientist wants to replace the soya with broad beans, and include a higher proportion of bean flour. They have in mind the balance of payments, tropical rainforests and making the bread higher in protein. They plan to try it out on students. Well, it got them in the paper; good luck to them - global agri-biz is a big ship to turn around

This was a wheat field - though may not have been bread wheat. The decomposing stubble is still there. Something else had grown in amongst it - a winter cover crop perhaps - but that is now all but dead too - probably the heavy frosts. Over-wintered, unploughed stubble reminds me of childhood. It came to be considered bad practice, because spring-planted crops have lower yields Continuous autumn planting, however, relies on herbicides to control weeds, particularly 'blackgrass' (Alopecurus myosuroides); the weed has become resistant to herbicides, so some spring planting has made a comeback. I wonder if the flocks of skylarks that used to love the stubbles will return too

White bread was originally preferred by those who could afford it because it was considered more difficult to adulterate, though that did not stop the frequent addition of alum and chalk to white flour in the 19th century. Legislation to prohibit such practices was eventually effective, and food standards regulations have grown increasingly sophisticated and extensive over time. Parliament may be about to remove some of these safeguards. I don't know if it is so, and neither do they