NATICK — A package of white sandwich bread is visible in a grocery bag being loaded into a Volvo SUV at this Super Stop & Shop on Route 9. “Our diets are so restricted that I try to enjoy one thing every once in a while,” says the owner, a middle-aged man too embarrassed to give his name. “My wife will kill me when she sees I’ve brought this home. I’m supposed to buy wheat bread.”
Once upon a time, white bread was king in American kitchens, used for sandwiches, French toast, even hors d’oeuvres. No longer. Fluffy and low in nutrients, with over-processed ingredients, white bread is obscured these days on supermarket shelves groaning with wheat bread varieties. Even Wonder Bread, the iconic white bread company, released three new wheat varieties in July. Since 2006, more US households are regularly eating wheat bread than white and the preference has continued to slowly increase since then, according to studies cited by the Boston-based Whole Grains Council. Can the demise of the sliced white bread be far behind?
“I can’t remember the last time I bought sliced white bread,” says Carolyn Monaco, a Brookline professional and mother of two older sons, who regularly bakes her own French baguettes. “It tastes like Styrofoam. It doesn’t feed you or your soul. It’s taken me a lot of years to learn that.”
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