The Worst Thing Since Sliced Bread: the Chorleywood Bread Process

In the 1950s, Britain’s local bakers were under siege. Large, highly automated bread factories could supply bread at a lower price, finding a ready market in the growing supermarket presence on the high street. The small bakers turned to the British Baking Industries Research Association (BBIRA), based in Chorleywood, outside London. After very few years of research, the bread scientists unveiled a method that took less time and was able to use lower-protein home-grown wheat: the Chorleywood Bread Process. If the high street bakers thought they were saved, they were sorely mistaken. The big industrial bakers adopted the same process and, helped by their size and the growth of the supermarkets, ate the bakers’ lunch. In this paper, I will look briefly at the history of largescale bread-baking. Since the 1960s, bread making has changed from a largely biological process, albeit with mechanical input, into a more inert process that depends on chemicals and motors. These changes have been widely blamed for bad health and societal ills, possibly without foundation. Finally, the spread of Chorleywood bread also prompted the renaissance of the artisan baker, but she is not the high street baker of old. Those of us who are willing to pay the price might now be getting the bread we deserve, but traps for the unwary remain

Genom manusia : panduan bagi pemula tentang kode kimia kehidupan

Judul alsi : The Human Genome72 p. : il.; 18 c

Agricultural Biodiversity Is Essential for a Sustainable Improvement in Food and Nutrition Security

Agricultural biodiversity has hitherto been valued almost exclusively as a source of traits that can be used in scientific breeding programs to improve the productivity of crop varieties and livestock breeds. We argue that it can make a far greater contribution to increased productivity. In particular, a wider deployment of agricultural biodiversity is an essential component in the sustainable delivery of a more secure food supply. Diversity of kingdoms, species and genepools can increase the productivity of farming systems in a range of growing conditions, and more diverse farming systems are also generally more resilient in the face of perturbations, thus enhancing food security. Diversity can maintain and increase soil fertility and mitigate the impact of pests and diseases. Diversity of diet, founded on diverse farming systems, delivers better nutrition and greater health, with additional benefits for human productivity and livelihoods. Agricultural biodiversity will also be absolutely essential to cope with the predicted impacts of climate change, not simply as a source of traits but as the underpinnings of more resilient farm ecosystems. Many of the benefits of agricultural biodiversity are manifested at different ecological and human scales, and cut across political divisions, requiring a cross-sectoral approach to reassess the role of agricultural biodiversity in sustainable and secure food production.agricultural biodiversity; food security; sustainability; nutrition; hunger