The coronavirus pandemic has radically changed our lives, shedding light on myriad systems that plague us on national and international levels. And it has also given rise to ungodly amounts of homemade bread.

First, anxious shoppers hoarded loaves of bread from the grocery store, emptying shelves before we even began wearing face masks. In response, many people took matters in their own hands and began baking their own bread. But flour mills couldnt keep up with the demand, leaving grocery store shelves barren and sending bakers on a search for online flour sources . Yeast then became difficult to find, leading to the booming sourdough trend.

Everyone, it seemed, learned to make sourdough bread and starter from scratch. And even those who never quite made it to the sourdough stage of bread-baking dusted off their loaf pans to make insane amounts of banana bread .

But why bread? Of all the things in the world to cook or bake, what is it about bread that tugged at us in the pandemic?

Bread has been fundamental in the human diet since the earliest known agricultural activity in the Middle East, holding great importance in the grain-producing countries in the cradle of agriculture. In religion, sacramental bread holds significance in Christianity as one of the key elements of the Eucharist, not to mention earning a line in the Lords Prayer (give us this day our daily bread). In Judaism, unleavened bread is eaten during Passover in commemoration of the Jews flight from Egypt. Bread has always been everywhere, that much is clear.

And baking, especially when its done for others, can bring a host of psychological benefits . Its a productive form of self-expression and communication, a form of mindfulness, a healthy distraction, and it also fits within a type of therapy known as behavioral activation. In all, baking can be a tremendous source of stress relief.