Some complain that pricey sourdough is elitist and pretentious. Others lambast cheap sliced white as unhealthy and unsustainable. How did our most basic foodstuff become a source of conflict and division?

The cheapest loaf in my nearest supermarket costs 45p. The cheapest loaf in my local artisanal bakery costs £5. Which of these facts winds you up?

For Giles Yeo, a professor of molecular neuroendocrinology at the University of Cambridge, it is the £5 sourdough. Writing in the Guardian this month, he railed against “bougie” bakeries charging more for “fancy” bread. For Chris Young, the coordinator of the Real Bread Campaign , it is the 45p white sliced. In response to Yeo’s article, he pointed out that ultra-processing enables supermarkets to sell bread so cheaply.

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US enthusiasts who follow the tradition of sharing dough are now receiving about 1,000 requests a week, up from 30 to 60

“There’s an old pioneer tradition” dating from the earliest days of the colonisation of the US west, says Mary Buckingham, “that you shared your bread starter with anyone who asked.”

Which was all very well until TikTok came along.

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The popular chewy loaves are no good for bacon sandwiches, it’s been reported. But most of us just laugh at baking fads

There is a game people like to play, and it goes like this. Potatoes or bread? Cheese or chocolate? Around the table late at night, I usually refuse to answer. Why should I have to choose? But push me, and in the end, I’ll always pick bread over potatoes, and cheese over chocolate – and for the same reason.

If food is culture, it’s also alchemy, and never is that particular magic more apparent than in the hands of the baker and the cheesemaker. Put the two together, and in a single mouthful, you may be transported to a near-heavenly realm: the apotheosis of all that is straightforwardly good and healthful in life.

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