Our Mission: to support systems change in the way we approach bread across all sectors for social fairness and environmental consciousness. Our approach is rooted in the principle of microbial equality; our role is to empower people to improve health, reduce environmental damage, and challenge the dynamics of inequalities in the food system using the BALM (Baking as Lifestyle Medicine) Protocol.
BALM Protocol is a framework for the way we bake bread and the way we bake, eat and share the bread that optimises nourishment to the gut microbiome to support health and well-being and empower others to approach bread to improve social equality and environmentalism, fostering a more balanced relationship between us and the food we consume.
We are committed to inspiring a positive paradigm shift in the way we create, bake, and eat bread by providing a structured systems change approach to baking bread that nourishes both the body and the mind. We aim to instigate, support, and inspire change from two directions:
- Top-down: Supporting the bread-making industry to produce better bread using the BALM Protocol while promoting environmental sustainability and social equality.
- Bottom-up: Empowering bakers and healthcare professionals worldwide through books, social media, and training to use the BALM Protocol to manage and reverse chronic lifestyle diseases in their patients through bread as a lifestyle prescription and preventative medicine.
We achieve this by employing a multi-dimensional approach that links each part of the industry, from soil to slice. By combining open knowledge sharing, original research, and evidence from nutritional, medical, and lifestyle studies, we have developed a comprehensive approach to bread called Diversity Bread, which underpins our mission to bake bread that nourishes the gut microbiome and positively impacts physical and mental health.
Our courses support bakers in actively implementing meaningful, structured systems changes in the way they bake bread, while healthcare professionals are empowered to socially prescribe the BALM Protocol through lifestyle bread-making courses for their patients.
Additionally, we further the paradigm shift of bread by providing consultancy services for industrial product development, focusing on creating Diversity Bread that nourishes and promotes well-being.