How did white bread change from being a rich man's food to a poor man's?!
How did white bread change from being a rich man's food to a poor man's?
You would think that since whole grain breads need less processing, they would be cheaper. I heard that in the medieval era, only the rich ate white bread. Now, you need money to eat healthy.
Answers:
Two reason one now the processing plants for the flour are all set up to bleach by the gross which lowered cost instead of just special batches
two it is not cheaper to process the baking of whole graines takes long and more care then plain white
Source(s):
myself as a baker
People learned about healthy foods, and now that's where the money is. In the 19th century, it was the rich who suffered from obesity and heart disease. Now, it's poor people. It's a helluva lot cheaper now to buy a Big Mac than a bunch of organic vegetables.
White bread is made from white lard / trans fat and bleached white floor. White bread is man made food. It's nice to look at and easy to eat but it's not good for health. Whole meal bread /whole grain bread is my good recommendation for everyone rich or poor. You must have knowledge of health food so that you know what you put in your mouth. You will become what you put into your mouth. Expensive foods does not always mean good unless they are organics(NON GMO, No Pesticides, No Chemical, no perservatives, no colouring)
Yes I know wheat bread and rye bread is good for health, But can you honestly say it tastes good? To me its like the taste of cardboard.
When white four first was introduced to the public it was fairly expensive..People had always had dark, whole grain breads. So when the rich discovered bread that was white, they were delighted. They loved it! White bread did not become a regular person's fare until white flour came down in price. Homemade white bread is still good for you. Whole grain breads are better. Wonder Bread(Sponge Bread), any brand is not very good for you at all. Unfortunately, it is about the cheapest, so the poor eat more of it. Thus it became "Poorman's Bread".
Density!
White bread, loaf for loaf is cheaper, but pound for pound more expensive.
Not to mention factories and improved manufacturing.
thats true.
That's the point. It's marketing. They know people will do anything to be healthy. And they know that eating 200 grain bread helps make you healthy. Since the point of advertising is to squeeze every last cent out of every customer, they are just doing their jobs.
wheat bread is popular now. wait another few years and we'll hear on the nightly news how eating whole grains causes nose cancer in most adults with small toes.
It is a question of economics. The biggest demand is for highly processed foods like white bread. The foods industry has put a lot of effort into learning how to make these types of foods cheaply to meet the demand. Foods that people don't buy a lot of are more expensive because it costs more to put them on the supermarket shelf and the spoilage losses are higher. In the end it is really just a matter of supply and demand.
Whenever anything comes out have you noticed that the price is jacked up. As it is out and the price drops its old news and common people food. its no longer exclusive.
I think that basic wheat bread vs shite bread in your super market is the same in price. It is mass produced and usually cheap.
Specialty breads that are not mass produced cost more even through they are less processed. When it comes down to it poor people buy what they can afford.
Whole grain breads are healthier and actually have a taste of their own which are all selling points. They are also trendy, especially when they are foreign or have specialty ingredients like nuts or grains.
So rich people eat this for the taste also but there is a certain amount of trendiness.
I think also as you have said there is type of stereotyping to white bread being poor man's food and often time richer people will avoid eating this to avoid looking or living like a poor person. Like how someone will eat Starbucks pastries instead of little Debbie's. So there is some elitism to this dynamic also as you were eluding to.