Our Values

Taste and Nutrition

You shouldn't have to choose between something that tastes good and something that is good. By combining traditional old-world baking practices with modern knowledge about nutrition, we make breads that are both tastier and healthier than today's status quo.

Like cheese and wine, whole wheat can be an acquired taste, and it can take some time for you to acquire it, so we often mix in some white flour along with the whole grain flours. We do make both 100% white breads and 100% whole wheat breads, but most of the breads fall somewhere in between.

Even for our pastries and cookies, we strike a balance by including whole grains, fruits, nuts, and other nutrient-rich ingredients and using minimally-processed evaporated cane juice, honey, or molasses instead of the usual refined white sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.

Organic Ingredients

Organic food is better for the earth and better for our bodies. Growing food organically helps improve the soil, protects water quality, saves energy, and promotes biodiversity. Compared to conventional agriculture, organic agriculture is less dangerous to farmworkers and generally produces safer, tastier, and healthier food.

Almost all of our ingredients are either certified organic or grown using organic farming practices. (We're still looking for a source of organic yeast for the non-sourdough breads.) To learn more about organic food, please see the following websites:

• Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
• Wikipedia article "Organic Farming"
• Organic.org's "Top 10 Reasons..."

Customer Satisfaction

We do our best to make good breads, but the living nature of traditional bread dough means that occasionally a loaf might not come out right. If one of our breads doesn't meet your expectations, bring it back and we'll give you another one or refund your money.

Local Foods

We aim to purchase as many of our ingredients locally and regionally as possible. Most of our ingredients are from the Rochester region or elsewhere in New York State. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find local sources for some of our ingredients, and we're always interested in doing better. We're looking to forge direct relationships with area farmers so our ingredients can be as fresh and local as possible. If you're a farmer in the Rochester region, please get in touch.

Collective Ownership

As a worker collective, Small World Bakery is entirely owned by the people who bake and sell the breads. All our profit is split up among the workers in proportion to each individual's share of the work. Decisions are made democratically at regular meetings of the collective. Everybody thus shares in the risks and rewards of running the bakery.