£9.99 / month after an initial 1 month period for £99.00 including joining fee
36 in stock
Community Membership is the backbone of our initiative. Your membership altruistically funds the programme, ensuring its grassroots foundation remains robust.
36 in stock
“This isn’t just technical baking excellence. This is excellent in every way possible – because you are helping Dr Vanessa’s lifelong mission to optimise our staple food for social equality.” – Dr Annie Elliot.
When you become a community Member, you’re not just learning to bake healthier bread- you’re nurturing a culture of learning, sharing, and empowerment that benefits all members, including yourself.
You will learn about baking as lifestyle medicine, so how to bake to reduce your risk of illness and to bake in way that supports the environment.
Yes you will learn to make sourdough and every stage of making sourdough, including:
• how to create and refresh a starter
• how to blend and mill flour
• how to mix, knead, shape, prove, score and bake your bread
• how to eat symbiotically for optimal gut health
Some of the bakes you will discover include:
• a 10-minute sourdough tin loaf
• a 10-minute sourdough cake
• a retarded sourdough boule
You will also learn about:
• the variables affecting fermentation
• the fibre, protein and gluten present in flour
• the nutrition and digestibility of bread
• probiotics and prebiotics (including how to make your own cultured butter, kimchi, sauerkraut and pickles)
• the gut microbiome and why the kind of bread you eat matters
• why diversity is key to gut health
In short, you will learn about sourdough and how to bake to nourish your microbiome, but the Community Membership is much more than a course: it is a lifestyle prescription. This is a unique and innovative voyage into the world of sourdough and gut microbiome, and it will show you how to change your own diet and lifestyle for the better.
Is this the best way for me to learn?It really depends on what kind of person you are and what interests you. If you are a food activist, or you want to take control of your health and wellness, or you care about someone in your families wellness then this is for you. If you love baking amazing bread and you want to understand bread, and how you coax out the beautiful crumb structure that Vanessa gets in her bread then yes. This is also for you. We are exceptionally good at teaching you have to make bread and how to eat it … but with purpose beyond beyond holes. The advantage of joining today is that you do not have to wait to start learning. The disadvantage is that the Community Membership is entirely self-guided, so while it is less expensive, it does not include the research level features, tasks, events and tutorials you get as part of our guided courses. The Community Membership option is often chosen by intermediate bakers who want the flexibility of a rolling monthly membership. It is important to note that you are committed to staying for a minimum of three months before you can cancel your subscription.
If you are a total beginner and have never baked sourdough before, then I would strongly suggest that rather than joining with a Community Membership, you do one of our short prescription courses first. Don’t be surprised by this suggestion! My motivation is not money, but sharing knowledge and making real change, and if you’re brand new to baking, you would be far better off starting with the lower cost option of a mini course, or even by baking from my 10-Minute Sourdough book, which is brilliant for beginners. You can also try out our basic recipes for free here. Then, once you know the basics and are sure that you like baking, you can come back and join. I suggest you sign up for a Community Membership only if you can agree with the following statements:
If you would like to join, please enroll – I will be delighted to find you in our Club members forum. If not, then please consider taking a guided course – they are amazing. Vanessa Kimbell The Sourdough School
If you would like to learn how to personalise bread. See https://thesourdoughschool.com/courses/
You can also join the mailing list or make a membership request here.
Yes! We provide support in a number of ways.
• The Sourdough Club forum is an active online forum with hundreds of members that is manned by one of our team daily. It’s a lovely place to get advice and feedback.
• You will be invited to attend live online clinics.
• You will be able to leave comments on lecture pages, which we will respond to.
• If you get stuck with anything, you can reach out and Vanessa will get in touch.
Part of our baking protocol is that we ask all our members to bake two loaves and give one away. So almost all of our recipes are made to follow this principle. Baking is about sharing bread and we encourage people to use it as a way to connect with one another. As a bonus, baking two loaves gives you extra baking practice!
As a member, you will most definitely learn to make extraordinary sourdough bread.
Yes you talk to Dr Kimbell regularly in the live sessions, but we also run a live session at 4pm (London time). This is a live open session. If you want to ask Vanessa about the membership, you can email [email protected] to be invited.
Bread, Health, and Social Justice: Community Membership is the backbone of our initiative. Your membership altruistically funds the programme, ensuring its grassroots foundation remains robust.
Your membership in the Sourdough Club isn’t just about learning Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM); it’s about being part of a global movement transforming lives through the power of bread. At the heart of the BALM Club is a vision: that good bread is a medium for promoting health, nurturing the environment, and furthering social justice. This vision, championed by Dr Vanessa Kimbell, isn’t about lofty ideals but tangible, on-the-ground change.
You will see our students opening bakeries inside hospitals run by the patients and see projects such as the local skate park, where Vanessa has set up a learning hub for 16-21 year olds to learn to bake and get work experience. Vanessa is beyond her exceptional baking ability has a deep commitment to social justice, with a specific focus on bread’s nutritional aspects, the gut microbiome, and its impact on mental health, and regenerative farming.
This isn’t just about learning the craft of sourdough or even about baking as a lifestyle medicine. It’s about joining hands with a community of activists, bakers, and thinkers committed to transforming the world—one loaf at a time.
It it is time to change the system.
Your membership isn’t just about learning to make bread. You will be part of the change.
The Sourdough School is a social enterprise and has been dedicated to researching, developing and sharing knowledge about how changes can be made in the world of bread-making and baking in order to support health and wellness for over a decade. We also take this one step further by teaching and empowering people to implement these changes and challenge the system on both a personal and social level. We do this through our Systems Change Programme, which is informed by our values.
This approach underpins everything we do in the club.
Yes we can tell you how great it is to be a member. .. but then wouldn’t it be better to hear it from members?
“I’d like to take a moment to appreciate “The Sourdough Club” and share my feelings regarding the delightful journey I’m currently experiencing. A gift of membership for any of us would be divine, I have been exceptionally blessed with mine! My life has become invigorating and I sparkle each day because “The Sourdough Club” has offered me the ability to shine, to grow, blossom, and flourish! Yes, I could be one of the ingredients of Vanessa’s Botanical Blends! A flower waiting patiently to enhance a little flavour into someone’s day, to remind ourselves of all that is great with the world instead of being disappointed and dismayed by all that troubles us. To be honest, if your heart is with sourdough, this club will present you with an opportunity to learn, challenge yourself and embrace the knowledge provided online. Vanessa offers recorded video guidance for us all to watch, participate in and the option to share conversations online with like-minded members. I do all of these things and more; I’ve watched webinars and I post my bakes via the member’s “Sourdough Club” group. Goodness, am I beginning to sound like an advertisement?! If I were, I’d implore you to join and actually yes I guess I am. I would love those of you reading these reviews to be inspired, to be invigorated and enthusiastic about what we have to say. The truth, for me, is that “The Sourdough Club” has changed my life for the better.
Through my membership, I’m learning to bake wholesome nourishing sourdough bread, cakes, puddings, sweet and savoury treats. I’m also being stimulated and this in turn has improved my mental health. I want to learn more, I want to embrace the opportunity, I want to succeed and I can because “The Sourdough Club” has enabled me to do so.
“It’s given me my happiness back and it’s reminded me of what’s important to me. If you have the slightest interest in baking, in sourdough, if you’re interested in our microbiome, in diversity, in the environment, then it’s all here in “The Sourdough Club”.
Depending on how you’d like to personally develop, I feel that membership of “The Sourdough Club” will give you the confidence to achieve so much more than just the ultimate bake.I am now in my eighth month of membership and gosh how those months have flown by!You my friend are at the beginning of a fabulous journey, don’t be shy, come join us! You’ll feel welcomed and supported from day one. If you choose to take this step, to commit, you may surprise yourself and in time, become a sourdough mentorwho wants to help others. You may enjoy a new hobby or even make new friends. There are no limitations to your potential. I haven’t reached mine yet, but in the meantime, “Happy Baking!””D. K.
