Final answer:
Artisanal breads were traditionally made with wild yeasts, leading to a high discard rate due to the inconsistency of the yeast cultures, making the process lengthy and laborious. This contrasts with current methods, which utilize modern yeast strains and economies of scale, to increase efficiency and reduce waste.
Step-by-step explanation:
Historically, artisanal breads were a hallmark of quality and tradition. Capturing wild yeasts from the air was the method of choice before modern yeast strains were developed. This made bread production a long and laborious process as it required a careful monitoring of the environment to ensure the right yeast cultures were growing. Due to the unreliable nature of wild yeasts, many batches of dough had to be discarded when they did not ferment correctly. This high discard rate necessitated more effort and resources to produce fewer loaves of bread, contrasting sharply with today's more efficient production methods.
In the context of baking at the scale of individuals or small communities, we can appreciate the words of Mrs. Hale from the heritage tables of history, sympathizing with the labor-intensive food preparation efforts, especially when considering the preservation of fruits or bread-making. Similarly, a Canadian worker's efficiency in bread production, alluding to economies of scale, contrasts with that of smaller-scale operations. This could be explained by the use of industrial-sized ovens which significantly increases productivity. As such, packaging a loaf of bread merchandise on a heritage table today might involve embracing traditional techniques while appreciating modern advancements that reduce waste and increase efficiency.