Real Bread Week starts today, celebrating  additive-free bread – and the people who make it.

Running from 21 February to 1 March 2026, Real Bread Week is organised the by the food and farming group Sustain and partner organisations. It is encouraging everyone to:

• BAKE Real Bread of any kind, by hand or machine
• BUY Real Bread, ideally from a local indie bakery
• BOOST the Real Bread Campaign by supporting the charity’s work

Now in its 17th year, the campaign brings together independent bakers, bakery teachers, millers, farmers, schools, care homes, caterers and community groups in the UK and internationally. Events range from open days and demonstrations to workshops and social media activity. Organisers can list activities on the campaign’s website, which also hosts free recipes.

Fibre message
A particular focus this year is fibre intake. With 96% of Britons failing to meet recommended fibre intake, the campaign is highlighting wholemeal real bread as one practical option for bakers and caterers looking to improve the nutritional quality of their offer.

On the retail side, Real Bread Week continues to promote its Real Bread Map and Real Bread Loaf Mark, tools designed to help customers identify bakeries producing additive-free loaves – and to counter confusing or misleading bread marketing.

Grain changers
The week also coincides with the launch of Baking A Better Tomorrow, a one-off magazine produced with Better Food Traders and UK Grain Lab, profiling farmers, millers and bakers working with diverse grains and alternative supply chains. Published on 21 February, it tells the story of pioneering seed producers, farmers, millers, real bread bakers, and food traders around the UK, who are challenging the dominant industrial farming, food and retail systems.