Diversity is one of nature’s guiding principles.
Healthy landscapes are diverse. Traditional farming was diverse. The foods we evolved eating were diverse. Diversity Bread® simply asks one question:
What if bread reflected that same principle?
Diversity Bread® is built around the idea that bread can reconnect relationships that have become separated: soil and seed, farmers and bakers, fermentation and flavour, and the people who eat the bread.
It is a philosophy rooted in ecology, craftsmanship and an appreciation of the remarkable complexity of bread and reflecting may aspects of the bread we evolved eating.
Diversity and the Gut
One of the most exciting areas of modern nutrition research is our growing understanding of the gut microbiome – the trillions of microorganisms that live within us.
Research projects, including the American Gut Project, have helped scientists explore how diet influences the diversity of the gut microbiome and how different dietary patterns are associated with different microbial communities.
We see bread as the opportunity to increase the diversity in the way we bake eat and share bread that contributes to a varied, plant-rich way of eating. Diversity Bread® is therefore not just about the flour, or the microbes that ferment it but is also about how bread how it is eaten.
Why we love the number thirty
One simple idea has become widely recognised in nutrition: aim for around 30 different plant foods each week.
That diversity includes grains, seeds, herbs, spices, legumes, nuts, fruit and vegetables—not simply thirty vegetables. Increasing the variety of plants in the diet has become a practical way of encouraging people to think beyond individual nutrients and towards dietary diversity.
Our licensed bakers support this philosophy by using Botanical Blend Flour® and seasonal Meadows Blends, while encouraging people to enjoy Diversity Bread® alongside an even wider variety of plant foods.
The Diversity in your loaf is only part of the story.
The way we eat it matters just as much.
Never underestimate bread again.
When you redesign that way you approach bread to reflect what we need that includes community, nourishment, connection and diversity then everything changes. You see bread as a connection and a delicious fibre delivery system and the fermentation as an extension of the microbial diversity on our beautiful planet then you will understand why the bread you choose to bake eat and share everyday is one of the most powerful choices you make for you and your family.
Listen to the conversation
If you’d like to explore these ideas further, listen to Dr Vanessa Kimbell in conversation with Professor Tim Spector on the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast:
Can Bread Be Healthy? – ZOE Science & Nutrition Podcast
Together they discuss bread, fermentation, dietary diversity and how bread can fit within a modern understanding of nutrition.