A review by dougsasser
White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain

3.0

This was a Goodreads give away. The author is a food historian who looks at the role White Bread has played in our culture. In some ways the interest in white bread has taken a 180 degree turn. During the late 1800 people preferred homemade loafs. Then industrialization led to mass produced loafs. People were amazed with this break through which led to the "best thing since sliced white bread" saying. Also factory made loaves were thought to be more sanitary than those made by "dirty" workers in a bakery. Racism also played a role in bread preference. The dark people ate dark loaves unlike our healthy white bread eaters. Later the counterculture of the 1960s embraced home backed bread. Also the stay at home mom conservatives embraced the practice. Today white bread sales are out numbered by other breads and white bread is seen as the food of the poor. This book is a well written and interesting text.