(fast-paced chimes)
- I love bread. - There is so much good bread in France. - [Narrator] And although man
does not live by bread alone, without it, a meal seems incomplete. - On every corner, there is
a bakery that is pumping out delicious, fresh, well made bread. - [Announcer] It's so fresh. - This is not easily available to me, and I want to know why. Why is it that the bread
that I can get easily looks very, very different? Why is it that the US
sucks at making bread? In fact, let me just show
you what that looks like. (video rewinding) Okay, wait, it's 12 hours
earlier, still back in the US. I'm actually at a grocery store right now. (gentle music) - This is how a lot of us
Americans get our bread. (indistinct voices)
Sigh. My favorite part is when
they make this plastic look like it's steaming,
it's just like foggy plastic, to be like, "this was
just baked right now." And it's like, "no,
this was actually baked "like three weeks ago in a
factory in like Connecticut." - [Speaker] It's even made
with real butter. (laughing) - [Announcer] Always buy Wonder Bread. (cash register chiming)
You'll be glad you did. - The reason I'm purchasing this bread is because I want to bring
it with me to France, just to like have an example lesson, and I may use it as a pillow, 'cause it's literally as
soft as a Novaform pillow. (snoring) Some of this bagged bread
is made with ingredients that are literally illegal in the EU. (machine beeps)
Back to France. Let's do it. - There is nothing more
American than Wonder Bread. (upbeat music)
(machines beeping) - [Narrator] (speaking
foreign language) France. (light accordion music) - In case you're wondering, yes. Any video from Paris must
include music like this. Nice, gentle, cafe accordion music. There's my composer,
Tom, making it right now. - It's pretty cool.
- It's just so good. Okay, so yeah, we know that
France is good at bread and the US sucks at it. Is this just another video
where I shit on the USA for being terrible at certain things? Yes, it is.
(music winding down) That's exactly what it
is, but hear me out. I actually have something to say here. I believe that bread is
a really important symbol for a bigger cultural
phenomenon in the US, and that's what I want
to talk about today, where industrialized bread
came from, why it exists, and how some people are
trying to change it. (music continues) I'll get to that explanation, but first, I'm gonna go into that bakery
over there and buy myself a large ball of butter and
flour stuffed with chocolate. Oh, and Tom, can you throw in a beat to this accordion music, please? - Yeah! - Thanks.
(upbeat accordion music) - [Speaker] Any questions? - Yes. Are you going to
finish that "quassoint"? (music continues) Oh, yeah. (music fades out) Pause. My job is to make videos for you, and the reason I'm able to do that is because there are brands
that support this channel. This video in particular
is sponsored by BetterHelp. And I'm grateful for that, because I deeply support
what they're trying to do. BetterHelp is online virtual therapy. I've been going to
therapy for several years, it has changed my life, but I'm very aware that it's not easy to find a
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go check out BetterHelp. And thank you, BetterHelp,
for supporting this channel and the journalism that I do. Let's dive back into the video. Okay, so why bread? There's a million other
things I could talk about that are better in other
parts of the world, but it turns out that
bread is the most important prepared food that humans have ever made. And therefore, it is worth talking about. So let me explain, in under a minute, the overview of the tens of
thousands of years of history of bread and its chemistry
and why it's so important. Don't think I can do it in under a minute? Check this out. 12,000 years ago, humans realized that they could plant this grass instead of just foraging for it. This grass was called wheat, and when it was ground up with a stone, it made this powder that,
if you put water with it, creates this stretchy,
goopy thing that has a bunch of sugar from the flour
that's been released. Oh, look.
- Wow. - [Johnny] All the bacteria in the air loves this sugary goop. - Nice. - And they descend to feast on it, burping out gas as they eat.
(burping) Whoa, the gas can't float up into the air, because it's getting trapped
in this stretchy ball of goop like a balloon, like a pillow, like magic. - Magic. - All this feasting and
burping is making it rise and turn into a pillowy thing that is way bigger than it was. Put this blob next to some fire, and all of the little bubbles that were just created turn hard. Wait, all of this can happen
because of this one grass? Yes. "Cool, let's plant a
lot more of this grass "and build all of human civilization "off of it," said humans.
♪ Society ♪ So that is bread, like the
oldest and most important prepared food item that
humans have ever invented. Eventually, humans got really good at doing this bread,
flour, water, yeast thing. And especially here in France,
they took it really seriously and have created a whole culture around making bread delicious and amazing. And you can see that they've
continued that culture today just by the number of bakeries
that exist in this city. There are 30,000 independent
bakeries in France. Compare that to the 3000 that
are in the United States. And then remember that the US has like a much larger population. And if you do all the math, you see that France has 50
times more bakeries per capita than the United States. 50 times. I mean, that is such a clear indication of how much they value good bread that is baked a certain way. Here with Mr. Local over here. - Yeah!
- Local French food in France. - Yes. 94% of regions live less than five minutes away from a bakery. (tone chiming) And that shows you they care. They care. It's like, you hear stuff
like that, and you're like, "aha, this is their priority." And the culture of eating is
just as much important here as how like the ingredients are sourced and prepared and whatnot. People don't eat while rushing towards their next meeting or whatever. Like it's very much, no, you
sit down, you make it a thing. It's just a part of the way of life here. People come into the boulangeries
almost on a daily basis, and they check in with each other. It's like a, "hey, how you doing?" "I'm doing great." This
is what's happening. - Why, why, why, why? That is the question. Why are these bread cultures so different? And the answer comes down to
what America was founded on. I mean, a reminder that
America is a country founded by a bunch of people
who left their country to go make a new life,
to do things differently, to do things more individualistically. And the way that expressed itself for a really long time was
mechanization industrialization. And to be clear, in the history, Britain was as much to
blame for all of this mechanizing of bread as America was. - That's insulting! - But anyway, we're talking
about the USA for a little bit. So by the 1920s, you had this
machine that was invented, an automatic bread slicer. Hello, convenience, innovation, America. (eagle calling)
(patriotic music) No more serrated knife
versus a tough crusty loaf. Now the machine will do it for you. This is the greatest
thing since sliced br... (record scratching) Oh, so that's where we're at. "This is the greatest
thing," says America, and Europe was like, "wait,
yeah, we like machines too, "but like, not for bread. "Slice this bread, and you
make your bread spoil faster. "We don't need a machine
for sliced bread." But the automatic slicer was
just the beginning for America. - Now, I'm just getting warmed up. - Now that we have sliced
bread that, yes, spoils faster, let's make it, I don't
know, not spoil as fast. One way to do this is to take the part of the wheat berry that has oils in it, the husk and the bran, and get rid of it. (objects clattering)
(cat meowing) Focus on the big, carb-loaded
berry in the middle. But there had to be a
more industrial solution to make the bread last longer,
to be whiter, to be softer. And it's the 1950s, and Europe is like, "whoa, dude, America. Chill out. "Like, bread is just bread. "We've been doing this "for literally tens of thousands of years. "Let's just like stick to the program." And America's like, "no!" So America starts adding all
of this stuff to their bread, bleaches and dough conditioners. And suddenly they're putting their bread into controlled chambers
so that it will be hot enough to rise faster. And they're putting preservatives in so that their bread can now sit on a shelf for not just one or two
days like it should, but four days, five days, six days, a whole week, and it's still soft. It is still white. It is
still spongy and delicious. But it now has 15
ingredients instead of three. And it's cheap and convenient and stable, and America is loving this. And Europe is like, "whoa." - Whoa.
"You took this way too far. "This is not bread anymore." And indeed, I would argue that
this is not bread anymore. This is a bread-like substance. It's a different product made
from a different process, and yet we use the same word for it. If you want to know more about what's inside of this kind of bread, I was actually here, making this video, when I stumbled upon a video from one of my favorite
YouTubers, Adam Ragusea, that's like a deep dive
into all of the ingredients in this kind of industrial bread. Definitely go check it out. Some bread in the US has taken it so far that they will put in
additives that keep it spongy and soft or that
keep it really white, even though these additives are known to like cause cancer and inflame asthma... (coughing)
And... Do all of these terrible things. Many of these additives that are legal to be put in American
bread are literally illegal in Europe and many other countries. Azodicarbonamide...
(X-Files theme song) Is one of 'em. This is a whitening
agent, but you know what? This product, ADA, also helps other things stay softer, like yoga mats. ADA is in yoga mats to make them... (toy squeaking)
Spongy and soft. And it is banned in the EU
and many other countries. Our obsession with convenience,
cheapness, softness, shelf life has led us down
a really dangerous path, and yet we're totally
okay with it somehow. This is why I think
bread is a useful symbol for broader American culture. It shows us how far we are willing to go to prioritize things like
cheapness and convenience over tried and true methods that have been baked into culture. (drumbeat)
(cymbal clashing) Of course, industrialized
bread exists here as well. It doesn't have some of the
carcinogenic ingredients that are not allowed in the EU, but it still has all of the
dough conditioners, bleaches, still artificially risen, all of that. The difference is that it is rare. It is much more rare here. What is much more common is the ability to go to your local bakery and get bread that only has a few ingredients, and it's the ingredients
that humans have been using for tens of thousands of years
to make this staple food. - The feeling that I generally have is that this is how it should be. And then when I go elsewhere and you have other kinds of bread that last kind of bizarre amounts of time, you're like, "this is not
really how it should be." You get calibrated to kind
of this new standard here, and it kinda ruins you. (laughing) - It turns out Paris is lowkey one of the most bikeable
cities I've ever been in, but it used to not be like that. Like last time I was here,
it was not this bikeable. I smell some urban design
policy changes afoot here. Someone tried to change this
in the US a few years ago, a company called Panera. - [Announcer] What could be better than a visit to Panera Bread? - It tried to bring like
European bread culture to the United States. And they did. They had a high quality, delicious bread, but what happens next is potentially the best metaphor for America. - Hello, I like money. - They got a business
loan so they could expand, and then they got investors, and they started to expand and scale. And then they were purchased
in a massive merger, and now they're planning to go public on the public stock exchanges. Like, they just became
a massive corporation who does not focus on making
quality artisan bread. Instead, they're now just
a machine pumping out bread that kind of looks and
feels like European bread, but is now done in a uniform, mass produced, industrialized process, all in the name of scale and profit. - (gasps) Wow, they have it. Canned bread. - So the question is,
why does this matter? Like, am I just being a snob who's like, "traditional bread is
better, and therefore, "everyone should have
it, and I hate America"? - That was snobby. You're a snob. - No, I'm not. - Kind of, yeah, but also, it
actually makes a difference in how it goes into your body. The beauty of bread, always, was that you could put
this goop out in the air, and bacteria would come down
and start to feast on it and kind of start the digestion process. That is what natural fermentation does, is it starts to break down the wheat and make it ready to go into your body. The way that we make bread in America doesn't really leave time for this. We use heat and chemicals
to speed this process up, to make it rise faster,
to make it rise bigger in an artificial, synthetic way. And so you're actually getting
a much inferior product to what original bread making looks like and what it produces. Yes, it lasts longer. Yes, it tastes like chewy,
pillowy, sugary heaven, but it's not bread the way
that humans have been eating it for tens of thousands of years. Convenience, scale, independence. That is what we love in America. We love shelf life. We love industrialized efficiency. And to me, yeah, all that
stuff is super great, because it means we get
to live these wonderful, prosperous, convenient lives, but I think we lose something really big when we focus on those as the priorities as opposed to quality and
community and culture. Last thing I'll say here is
that this is slowly changing. You have a movement in
the US of people making some of the best bread in the world, using the most traditional
methods and ingredients. In these big cities, you have
amazing bakeries doing bread that is on par with anything
you could get in Europe, and that kind of blows my mind. The problem is, and my critique, is that that is still
so rare, and specialty, and really only available to people who live in big urban areas. And meanwhile, the rest of us, the most accessible bread to us is this industrial, mass produced garbage. - Belongs in the trash. - And that is enough to
make me pretty frustrated. (upbeat accordion music)
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His YouTube channel is weird because I have enjoyed a bunch of his videos but he also rubs me as an insufferable dueche
First off, did this MF really go to a target to prove that grocery stores don't have fresh bread?
Second, I never really understood why these little things come with such judgment attached to it. Like, yeah, we don't have fantastic baguette available everywhere. But most large supermarkets do bake bread fresh or carry local bakery breads.
But why am I or antibody else supposed to care about that? Our food culture does not rely on baguette. In much the same way I'm not going to piss in Parisian Cheerios and say that we have better access to tacos or barbecue because they probably don't care. I bet you can't get a decent tortilla virtually anywhere in France. Oh no!
Ahhhh megagiggles! I lived in France. The bread at my local sucked hardcore. Australia is just fine, thanks.
Let’s compare a small bakery to supermarkets!
Seriously, most major cities have at least one decent bakery if not dozens for good bread, but outside of limited markets, it doesn’t end up in supermarkets. Yeah, Paris has a lot more good bread per capita, but goto NYC or SF and you can get some of the best breads in the world, and not just French.
I find all of this negativity and judgment a tad depressing. I also just lost a 4-year-old sourdough starter that has been a stalwart. Now I have start over.
"Let's build all of human civilization off this grass [wheat]"
I really think South and East Asians would like to have a conversation with this guy. I'd imagine Native Americans, as well.
I think I'll make a travel/food video. I'm at a disadvantage, though, not being a studiedly with-it guy of a certain age who has that annoyingly self-important vocal tic of inserting pointless pauses between words. Also, I'm not arrogant enough to walk around while filming my own face as I pontificate while wearing a watch cap. Is he going to sea when the video is over?
Hey, it's true that as a rule France has bakery bread that is seriously, wonderfully good. It's also true that France is admirable in many creature comfort ways, along with having an excellent social support system.
But it's not true that going to a foreign country and noticing the great stuff about it will immediately make you superior to all the fellow Americans who have yet to view your video explaining their benightedness to them.
May I extend my sincere gratitude to the OP for the perfect headline and to my fellow readers of this thread who incisively & amusingly expanded on that theme.
He's not wrong, the bread in France is just better. But the "less ingredients means better" argument is trite not really correct. Also most French bakeries are using plenty of industrial equipment.
This analysis also goes for the very stupid "AMERICANS JUST WANT EVERYTHING TO BE EASY" answer for why it's different here. Which ignores the fact that to buy bread you need cities layouts, work hours, and wages that allow people to go to the bakery every day. Also social services and wages that enable so many people to be professional bakers.