There Is No Unmarked Bread

            As I gaze across the listless store aisle, I see those lucky vegetables; the raw ones that have the privilege of not needing those painful stickers. As I glance to my left and my right, I see my suffering brethren; the bread that unwillingly shouts if it is either gluten free or GMO free. 

If we could rip these labels off and venture forth into the world unshackled, by all means we would. However, people can only look at us for our labels and not our actual quality. Consumers see us lined up, patiently waiting for their purchase, and they carefully pick which one of us suits their needs; we have no say in the matter. Meanwhile, those raw vegetables require no such inspection because people just stroll up and pick whichever one they want since they all look the same anyway.

Unlike us, they have “the option of being unmarked.” Also, every fruit will always be healthy, yet the same is not true for bread. Even if we are made with whole wheat bread and no high fructose corn syrup, some will say we are still not healthy enough. Many days I wish that I could just blend in and remove my labels, but sadly that day will never come. America is too obsessed with labeling everything in life be it red states and blue states or just plain old bread. The consumer constantly needs to know my entire life story from birth to shelf in order to determine whether I am good enough for their kitchen. Ironically, most of my labels end in the word “free” because consumers do not actually care for what is inside of me; they care for what I do not have. This deeply saddens me because we do not have the freedom to exist without labels unlike the vegetables. Often times, I just want to sit there on the shelf and not have anyone come and inspect me like an animal in a zoo. But since I am bread, there is no chance, because there is no unmarked bread.