Eric Pallant

Loaf: The Global Story Behind How We Make Bread book cover

Loaf: The Global Story Behind How We Make Bread Releasing January 5, 2027

An engrossing and entertaining tour of the astonishing global effort required to bring home one loaf of bread, in the tradition of John McPhee.

How many people does it take to make a loaf of bread? In Loaf, Pallant traces the path of a single loaf of bread, from the wheat fields of Pennsylvania to you and your sandwich. The journey stops in surprising places: agriculture scientists studying wheat varieties in a Sugar Cookie Test lab in Ohio; yeast strains meticulously selected and raised in France and flown to Iowa on dry ice; phosphate that travels from mines in the Western Sahara to the eastern Atlantic coast...

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About Eric Pallant

Eric Pallant is a serious amateur baker, a two-time Fulbright Scholar, double, award-winning professor, and Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science and Sustainability at Allegheny College. He has been featured on NPR, CNN, BBC, National Geographic, Vox, The Hill, and Raising America. He is acknowledged for his skill in weaving research narratives into compelling stories for the Gresham Lecture Series, London; The Perfect Loaf; bread symposia; numerous podcasts; and articles for magazines such as Gastronomica, Sierra, and Science.