“It’s as good for the soul as it is for the palate.”

Quite a state­ment to make when talk­ing about a sim­ple loaf of bread, but Malcolm Jolley, a Fiesta Farms cus­tomer and edi­tor of www.goodfoodrev.com, stands behind it encour­ag­ing us to take a closer look at this unique bread-making operation.

Not only does St. John’s Bakery make incred­i­ble organic breads in the tra­di­tional French style it does so while help­ing peo­ple in less than for­tu­nate cir­cum­stances by hir­ing them and teach­ing them how to bake the bread.

back­ground

Bakery work­ers have included peo­ple strug­gling with men­tal ill­ness or addic­tion, refugees and sin­gle par­ents bat­tling poverty.

“St. John’s Bakery pro­duces one of the best arti­san breads in Toronto. It is a sta­ple in our home and when we invite guests for din­ner, we always share the story of the bread on the din­ner table and the impact it has on Toronto soci­ety.  Good food doing good. It is a shame that in today’s world, few foods can claim the same degree of recog­ni­tion.” says James Geneau of  www.gremolata.com

Owned by St. John’s The Compassionate Mission they are funded in part by the Toronto Enterprise Fund.

What started as a drop-in cen­tre in a strip mall is now a world-class bak­ery. They use only organic flour and all-natural ingre­di­ents from local sup­pli­ers in their sig­na­ture sour­dough bread and hand­made sweets.

fans of the product

Slow Food co-chair Paul DeCampo (now at Food Share) is a fan as well, “Not sur­pris­ingly, I am kind of par­tial to the Red Fife loaf, and really respect St. John’s for work­ing directly with Patricia Hastings of CIPM, the grower and miller. Red Fife pro­duces a delight­fully nutty flavour, and by sup­port­ing this her­itage vari­ety, we can also sup­port agri­cul­tural bio-diversity.”

A bread that is car­ried in some of the city’s best restau­rants, includ­ing Jamie Kennedy’s, as well as at farmer’s mar­kets, cof­fee shops and organic stores. This is a bread we are proud to have on our shelves at Fiesta Farms and so are our cus­tomers.… Especially this guy:

“I find it really sen­su­ous and sexy.  When I eat the bread it turns me on.  It is even bet­ter with but­ter.  Their nutty olive deal makes the best grilled cheese.” says Fiesta Farms cus­tomer and Excutive Chef at the Drake Hotel, Anthony Rose.