"Standard bread" - a product that has become a concept - originates in the regulations set by the British Mandate. At the outbreak of World War II, a lack of flour and imported wheat began to be felt in Palestine. The Mandatory government consequently decreed that bread should be produced using a special flour mixture - "Palestinian Standard Flour." This bread was round, dark, and dense, weighing 1 kilogram or 500 grams. In order to ensure the steady provision of this basic commodity, the government introduced the supervision of its production and sale.
In 1948, in the wake of the mass immigration and the dire economic situation that followed the establishment of the state, a regime of austerity was enforced, under which the price and weight of standard bread were determined and its sale subsidized. For a large part of the public, standard bread now constituted the central item in their daily diet. The standard bread subsidy continued to be implemented until the early 1990s.
Although its shape and color have changed over the decades, standard bread has remained a popular product and a highly charged social symbol, its price constituting an indicator of politicians' sensitivity to social issues. |
