"Award Winning Baker"

Reflecting on being named a World Bread Hero

Good morning bread friends!

First, I want to acknowledge that there are a lot of new subscribers to this newsletter this week. Welcome aboard! I’m grateful and thankful for everyone who chooses to be a part of this growing community of individuals who care deeply about real bread & real justice. 

So, if you haven’t heard yet, I’m excited to share the news with you that we won an award this past week.

At the 2021 World Bread Awards, Bread & Justice was selected for the Midwest Bread Hero award.

As I’ve come to learn, the World Bread Awards usually is conducted in person, where hundreds of loaves from across the country are tasted and assessed by esteemed judges. However, due to the pandemic, the hosts of this annual event have adjusted the last two years to recognize those behind the bread. The goal of the Bread Heros award is to recognize the bakers, millers, and farmers who have stepped up and supported their communities, innovated to expand their reach, and cared for others through bread.

Life is so funny! Believe me when I say that never in a million years would I have imagined that in my late 30s I’d be running a bakery out of my home kitchen, and being nominated for national awards for it. But my wife (who has known me for 20 years) recently pointed out that when I decide to I put my mind to something I have a tendency to go full speed at that thing. It seems that this cottage bakery is the latest example of that.

I want to note that I accept this award not as an acknowledgment of my effort, but rather as a celebration of OUR community. As a member of this Bread & Justice community, you have opted into being a part of building something special.

Bread & Justice is a micro-bakery on a mission. With your help, we donate 100% of the profits from the sale of every loaf to an organization working towards a more just society. And to be sure, we wouldn’t have made it this far without an amazing community of customers in the Madison area who routinely buy bread, and continue to tell their friends about this little bread house on a mission.

Likewise, Bread & Justice would not have the level of impact that we have without all of you choosing to reflect on these weekly letters and then deciding for yourself how to take action. Whether I’m writing about my approach to breadmaking, or reflecting on injustices in society, or sharing about the nonprofit that I’m excited to donate to that month - I’m so grateful for your earnest engagement in these topics.

Over the past year, we’ve had subscribers do things like donate to cover our ingredient costs or offer to invest in equipment. And each month when we donate our profits to a social-justice nonprofit… we routinely see this amazing community doubling or tripling down on those donations. I’m continuously inspired by this community.

Speaking of inspiration, you should really check out the stories of the other regional winners of the 2021 World Bread Awards.

• Manlo Betancur, of Manlo’s Bakery who emigrated to the USA from Columbia 20 years ago and today runs an amazing bakery that routinely donates to their community - including ensuring EVERY child in his North Carolina community would have a birthday cake if they needed one during COVID.

• Guy Frenkel, of Cast Your Bread, who when the pandemic hit he started baking bread for local charities that had set up food distribution and grocery bag giveaways for those in need and particularly those heavily impacted by the pandemic. He named his cause ‘Cast Your Bread’ and started to reach out to local home bakers, rallying them together and arranging drop-offs at his home so that he could gather up the donated loaves from bakers all over LA and take them to the charities.

• Shiri Reuveni-Ullrich, of Rising Above Bakery, who works with young people with disabilities to help them find their voice as empowered bakers who possess the skills and self-confidence needed to live independent and fulfilling lives.

• Don Guerra, of Barrio Bread, who was a public school teacher and for years was making tens of thousands of loaves of bread out of his home. Today he works with local farmers, chefs, and other food producers to strengthen the local grain economy and has built a Community-Supported Baking concept that involves education and working to create a strong local food movement in his community.

It is an honor to be recognized among these accomplished bakers, and wonderful humans. I feel like all of us are working to fight for real bread & real justice in our own way, which is super encouraging to see.

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Finally, as always - I want to remind those of you that are in the area that you can pre-order loaves for this Thursday’s pickup. We may sell out again this week, but we have stock available on our website right now. As I shared in the last letter, during the month of November all profits from bread sales will be donated to the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.

Thank you for being on this journey with me.

Cheers,

Mo Cheeks
your friendly award-winning sourdough bread baker ;)