The Science Behind Why Everyone is Suddenly Baking Bread

If you’ve seen an influx of sourdough starters on your Instagram stories, you’re not alone. Over the past three weeks, Google Trend searches for “bread” have hit all-time highs, #breadmaking has garnered nearly half a million posts on social media and grocery stores are facing flour shortages.

“We’ve seen close to a 700-per-cent increase in flour sales from our shop. The demand picked up shortly after panicked shoppers started emptying grocery shelves,” says Matthew Faust, general manager of Brodflour, an urban mill and bakery in Toronto.

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On the surface, it’s easy to attribute the rise of timelapsed loaves to boredom – it’s a wholesome activity to pass the time while social distancing – but it turns out there’s a scientific reason why everyone’s hopping on the bread-baking bandwagon.

In times of crisis, people covet creature comforts, and few things are as simple, yet satisfying, as freshly baked bread. Dating back to the Stone Age, bread making is one of the earliest chemistry experiments in human history. The first loaf was an accidental discovery after one of our Neolithic ancestors ground wild seeds and grains, added water, and left the lumpy “dough” on hot stones in the embers of a fire.

To this day, the ingredients of flour, water, yeast and salt are cheap and cheerful – and psychologically reassuring to our sapient selves that we can take survival into our own hands.

Our brains have limited bandwidth, and lately, the majority of our mental real estate has been overtaken by anxiety and fear, but the holy grail of grain gives our monkey minds an easily digestible diversion.

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When faced with emotional and financial scarcity, our brain naturally reverts to ways it can boost our spirits and stretch our dollars. Baking bread satiates those cravings. We also prioritize instant gratification when the future feels foggy. In chaos, people cling to what they can control, and following a recipe is a process that yields predictable results.

“That feeling of pulling a freshly baked loaf out of the oven carries over into the next day, making the baker more likely to keep on with the act of creative cooking,” writes Dr. Tamlin Conner, psychologist and professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand and lead author of the study “Everyday Creative Activity as a Path to Flourishing” published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

Creating something from nothing and witnessing the fruits (or grains) of our labour is rewarding during these trying times while reminding us of the science of life. So, bake on. It won’t be this crumby forever.

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