Maaleipä Feast reshapes bread culture

IHME Helsinki Commission 2024 – Cooking Sections’ Maaleipä Challenge – invited home bakers, bakeries, restaurants, schools and communities in Finland to create bread recipes that combine the well-being of land, water and people’s guts. The Challenge culminates in a celebration of the breads and bakers at Kellohalli, Helsinki, from 2 to 6 pm on Saturday 21 September.

Welcome to taste the bread made for the future of the soil!

The Challenge attracted recipes from all over Finland. They use a wide variety of local organic and landrace grains, such as emmer wheat, buckwheat and spelt, sourdough starter and yudane, natural herbs and vegetables, seeds, acorns, bark, root vegetables, mushrooms, seaweed, and even cyprinids. The breads range from crispbreads to loafs and from flatbreads to no-knead breads.

Maaleipä brings a diverse group of bakers together with farmers and experts in ecology, agriculture, and food policy to envision the future of land use, agroecological grain cultivation and bread production in Finland. We are excited to see how the nationwide Challenge can support farmers and growers to shape soil health across the country and how we can strengthen soil cultures through cultural production,

say the Cooking Sections artists Alon Schwabe and Daniel Fernández Pascual.

In selecting the finalists, Cooking Sections took account not only of the ingredients, but also of how each bread recipe reshapes bread culture. IHME Helsinki fosters art that promotes the cultural change needed in the environmental crisis. The Maaleipä Challenge is at the heart of that change, encouraging bakers to think about bread ingredients in terms of environmental well-being. The Challenge also aims to establish the word ‘maaleipä’ in the Finnish language to describe breads made from ingredients that care for the soil, the sea and people.

The finalist breads will be on display and available for tasting at the Maaleipä Feast. The jury will give prizes for the five best breads and bakers (link). Before the award ceremony, there will be an opportunity to join in a discussion with the jury on the social relevance of the Maaleipä Challenge from a food-security perspective. The prizes will be awarded by: the Patron of the Challenge Pekka Haavisto, MP (Greens); Cooking Sections; Research Professor at the Finnish Environment Institute, Minna Kaljonen; and food influencer and author of the Ripaus Kurkumaa blog, Gelawej Viyan.

Besides the awards ceremony, the event will give you a chance to buy bread ingredients and to taste a wide range of Maaleipä products, from bread to ice cream and café goods. It will be hosted by Olivia Din Belle of YLE’s 8 minuuttia (8 Minutes) programme. Admission to the Maaleipä Feast is free.