On the eve of our last week's CSB program launch, a friend and mentor of mine forwarded us an article published on Civil Eats, a source that "provides critical thought about the American food system and aims to shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities." The article speaks about food waste that occurs in our country, grain products in particular - an estimated one-third of all the bread made in America is going to waste. This number boggles my mind...it is saddening to imagine the sheer amount of time, energy, and resources being discarded.
Within the core values of our company is the intent to do exactly what this article states. To always remember that "breaking bread remains a symbol of the shared labors involved, and of the necessity of our cooperation." That is one of the reasons, besides our incredibly supportive customers, that over the last 18 weeks of the market season, we have sold out every time. We make it a mission to carefully plan out our production so that the likelihood of waste along the breads' seed to stomach journey is minimized. More is not always better.
So far we have had such a positive response to our Blind Date with a Baker program over the last week and we were complimented on what a great concept it was. However, the CSB model is really not a new idea - many small bakeries such as ours that lack a retail outlet take this route, reach out for community support, and bake only the loaves that people have pre-ordered. The deadline for Oct-Dec shares is September 29th and if you're interested in signing up, you can do so at our market booth or you can click HERE to do it on our website.
Speaking of markets, this weekend we will be bringing back the "Everything Bagel" loaves alongside our regular fare. Though the North End market will continue on Saturday mornings all through October, there are just a couple of Friday night markets left. If you'd like us to bring back any of the specials we have had over the season for these last two nights, let us know!