This Maine Bakery’s Buy-a-Loaf, Give-a-Loaf Program Helps Feed Their Community

Key Points

• Scratch Baking Co.'s Village Loaf program donates fresh bread to a local cupboard, aiding the community.

• The chief baker and co-founder shares what to try first at the South Portland bakery.

• Plus more good news from this week, including how one Top Chef winner tackled her first Hyrox.

This is Good Food News , your weekly installment of positive food and health news from around the world. These feel-good stories are hand-picked by EatingWell editors to help make your week just a little bit brighter.

Featured Story: This Bakery’s Village Loaf Program Started During COVID, but Continues to Thrive

When Allison Reid first opened Scratch Baking Co. in South Portland, Maine, about 24 years ago, she admits that she and her business partner had no idea where to start.

“We just wanted to bake things,” the co-founder tells EatingWell .  “A friend of ours said, ‘You know, there's really no bagels around, and you could probably make some good money making bagels.’”

From there, the cozy bakery found its niche, with bagels still being the shop’s customer-favorite category. It’s the same recipe Reid helped develop over two decades prior. But among the bagels, pastries and pizza, Scratch Baking Co. has a unique request for those who love purchasing their freshly baked bread.

The bakery’s Village Loaf program allows customers to buy a loaf of bread to be donated to the South Portland Food Cupboard . This initiative started mid-2020 when it was needed most.

“During the pandemic, we knew that a lot of people were struggling, and we wanted to do something about that,” Reid explains. “We've always given our leftovers to Preble Street, the South Portland Food Cupboard, anywhere that we could drop off, but we knew that the need was much greater than that. Courtney, our bread kitchen manager, was really, really adamant about getting more food out there for people that needed it.”

While the bakery continues to donate leftover food to local organizations, the Village Loaf program is a win-win. It allows Scratch Baking Co. to continue their generous—and delicious!—work at no cost, and it’s an easy way to provide fresh bread to those who benefit from the cupboard.

Today, the program is still active, so the next time you’re in the South Portland area, make a pit stop at Scratch Baking Co. for goodies that will keep your soul (and belly!) feeling good. You can go with a classic by ordering a bagel with housemade cream cheese or pimento cheese (the latter is Reid’s grandmother’s recipe). We asked Reid for some of her favorite selections in case you want recommendations from the chief baker herself.

“My personal favorite that I still can't not eat after 24 years are our scones,” she shares. “I love them. They're just handled so well, and they're delicate, but you can taste the buttermilk in them, and they're beautiful. Our cinnamon rolls are also to die for. But you can't go wrong with anything, really.”

More Good News This Week

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Video of the Week

Please don’t distract this pooch, she’s hard at work making biscuits. Maybe she needs to stop by Scratch Baking Co. and help out… or make one of our dough-licious recipes:

Read the original article on EatingWell