The Sourdough Club isn’t your typical baking hub. It sprouted from a yearning for authentic, interdisciplinary learning, and The Club opened at my kitchen table back in 2010 as I opened The Sourdough School. The club was born out of remembering the frustrations of trying to navigate such a lot of nonsense: sifting through mixed information, longing for conversations with experts on bread and health, and seeking genuine community. I dreamt of a haven where one could discuss health challenges with doctors, dissect the latest nutrition news with professionals, and see bread not just as food but as therapy.
For me, the ideal would’ve been pursuing a nutrition degree while working in an artisan bakery, but reality painted a different picture. Juggling life with three young children far from any bakery, I founded The Sourdough Club as a way to pool knowledge and gather a community of people who believed in decent bread being the foundation of a healthy diet.
Today, our club encapsulates all that I envisioned. We do extraordinary things together and share knowledge, making a quiet but significant impact through something beautiful. I think it is important for you to know that I do not, and neither do my partners, take a salary from The Sourdough Club. We run this club voluntarily as a social enterprise. Your membership fee supports changing the dynamics of inequalities in the food system, and by being a member, you are actively engaged in supporting food justice.
Our club has a purpose. We are activists, and in our members, I recognise the equal dedication to systems change and fostering a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. I have been baking for over 40 years. I have worked alongside some of the world’s greatest bakers, trained award-winning bakers, and taught hundreds of people to bake healthy bread. It is sometimes challenging, but never boring and my dedication remains unwavering.
Good bread has never been more relevant. We are now facing a tidal wave of illness and environmental damage from ultra-processed foods which deprive our gut of essential fiber, affect mental health, and exacerbate climate change, BALM offers a bread-making framework designed for all bakers to use to bolster gut, mental, and community health, grounded in regenerative farming practices. Our work means that you learn as part of a global community of bakers reshaping the world, one loaf at a time.
Warmly, Vanessa Kimbell
