Bakers for Bakers

Some wonderful supporters are planning a huge weekend of fundraising for Bake for Ukraine later this month - read the story behind it!

Two more mobile bakeries are now in Odesa - and now the challenge begins of raising enough money to get them fixed up and capable of getting on the road. I’ve used money collected from this substack to help pay for them to be transported all the way from the Belarus border - and it was just as well that we got them far away from that direction, given the latest military developments. But now I want to say thank you to a truly wonderful group of bakers who are joining together across the United States and the UK to help us raise the funds we need. 

We were first contacted a few weeks ago by David Bauer from North Carolina’s Farm and Sparrow mill, where he makes stoneground landrace flour - from wheat which is semi wild and supports genetic diversity. He was eager to help by staging an event of some kind, and came up with an ambitious plan for bakeries across the United States to hold a simultaneous bake sale. We chose the weekend over Ukraine’s independence day on August 24th, and because David supplies flour to so many bakeries and has such amazing contacts with many more, around 75 places signed up. In the UK, the London based Bread Ahead bakery had also planned a special sale and a day long Ukrainian bread baking course over the same weekend, while Henrietta Inman at Wakelyns Farm in Suffolk also volunteered to take part. Bake for Ukraine sent some recipes for sourdough palyanytsya bread, a rye sourdough called Darnitsky, and some cake ideas for the bakeries to make, and we organised some Zoom sessions so that we could introduce ourselves to David and as many of the bakers involved as we could. David set up an Instagram account and a website called Bakers For Bakers to share resources. 

photo: Sasha Baron

At a time when so much violence and uncertainty is stalking the world, and so many urgent issues are competing for time and compassion, it was truly uplifting to realise that so many people were enthusiastic to help fellow bakers in Ukraine to provide bread and dignity to those in danger and in need. As our Bake for Ukraine co-founder Maria said, even if it did not end up raising a penny, it would be enough to know that such kind and generous supporters still exist, and still remember about Ukraine. But she was doubly excited about the prospect of so many American bakeries making Ukrainian sourdough - for it is her mission to make palyanytsya as popular and widely enjoyed as a French baguette. 

We have been thrilled to see photographs coming through of the test bakes which the bakeries have been trialling before the sale, beautiful crusty loaves made from heritage wheat, stone fruit cakes with kefir, poppyseed babkas and a many layered honey cake. Bread Ahead had already helped us out a couple of months ago, by stepping in to make some palyanytsya for a private bake sale a supporter held at her workplace. They said they had enjoyed making it and were very pleased with the results, so we are thrilled to see it going on sale for a week at their Borough Market shop, along with the baking class. I  will post the links to the booking form for the class, and all the other resources at the end of this piece.

Part of the mission of Bake for Ukraine is to share the history and tradition of Ukrainian bread culture as widely as possible. So much of Ukrainian land has been burned and mined and destroyed by Russia, but farmers are out in the fields ploughing and sowing crops. Ports and grain infrastructure are attacked by missiles and drones, but Ukraine continues to export vital supplies to Africa and other nations despite the risks. I have travelled with courageous volunteers in areas close to the front line as they deliver bread to communities who live under daily fire, with no access to running water or electricity, let alone a place to buy bread. We owe it to them to do whatever we can to help, and we are so grateful to all of you who support this substack, and to David and the amazing bakers who are supporting his fundraising drive later this month.

We are aiming to collect around $40,000 to fully restore both the new mobile bakeries and provide the funds for fuel, ingredients and running costs, and find places where they can work most effectively. Our volunteers are working at the bakery we put in Mykolaiv to bake for villages in that region as well as Kherson. They do this work despite living in a war zone where life is risky, exhausting and relentless, and we are so proud of their fortitude and resilience. Glory to heroes, and let’s do this together.

https://www.bakersforbakers.com/

https://www.breadahead.com/product/ukrainian-baking

https://www.farmandsparrow.com/landrace