Our article: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200810/bread (enjoy! The article is 2 painless pages, by the way.)
Summary:
The issue and controversy of recipe copyrights have always been a problem for chefs and bakers. The central problem to recipe copyrights is that recipes are often “shared” without notification to the people who published/posted the recipe originally -- and there is practically no way to know who created what. The advent of Internet only made things worse, as websites dedicated to recipes constantly included published work without any attribution to the cookbook writers. Before Internet, cookbook writers can demand credit; however, blogs and advertising sites proved hard to prosecute – since they can easily go by the rules of fair use. Bakers also copy others’ celebrated and popular recipes under the disguise of sharing ideas. Patenting is frowned upon, and bakers who create original recipes are left to deal with the problem themselves – while there is no solution to prevent copying. Recently, the split of Sullivan St breads had led to two different brands that sell identical breads and cookies. Jim Lahey and Monica Von Thun Calderón both took the recipes and started producing on their own. The company Sullivan St split into two businesses, and forced customers to pick one to favor: a hard decision since both sides featured very similar products. However, being two separate lines, one had to change the name of their products, which brings back the copyright issue. It is easy to trademark unknown and fake words (such as "frappuccino"), but not as easy for common words. Copyrights like food recipes and methods are hard to keep track of, especially with the spread of the internet. Some like Lahey are not so over-reactive about property rights though. He came up with a revolutionary baking method, and when he found it in a prominent cook's recipe book, he did not complain. He says that the recipe was an ancient method, so to copyright it would be "absurd." Instead, he encourages bakers to cooperate to win back the prosperity of their industry. The "'craft bread' market" has diminished since industrial producers started selling "'artisanal' bread," and flour prices have tripled. Lahey proposes to gather bakers in a Craft Baker's Association, stating "In unity there is strength."
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think Lahey’s idea of the Craft Bakers’ Association is a good idea? Do you think it could work successfully or fuel another squabble between bakers?
2. In your opinion, is it fair or unfair that bakers have a harder time “self-branding” and obtaining a name of recognition” than restaurant owners do? Why?
3. Do you think that copyrighting recipes will put an end to the imitations of recipes? (most of you may say yes, but look at how the famous baker found a loop hole and published Kummer’s recipe in her book)
Group Reactions to “Half a Loaf”
The catchy, unusual subject matter and creative title of this piece were what drew us in to picking this article. Our group’s reaction to these was initially one of humor: Copyrighting bread recipes? How ridiculous does that sound? However, after reading into the article, our group became interested and perhaps even a bit engrossed in arguing whether or not recipes should be “patented.” We were surprised that a recipe for something as wholesome and good as bread (everyone loves carbs!) could cause such confrontation amongst individuals. The rival bakeries discussed in this article display the gravity of these recipe wars.
Our group laughed at the idea that people could get torn apart by food. After all, food is supposed to bring people together.
Yet this recipe controversy can cause a lot more tension than just on a local level:
One member of our group recalled listening to an NPR report a few days ago in which the commentator discussed how the origin of hummus (another
one of everyone’s favorite food) has been disputed throughout history. Lebanese, Palestinians, and Israelis all claim to have originally created the dish. This controversy only adds onto the tension that already exists in the Middle East.
Our group agreed that credit for new recipes should be awarded to chefs in some form, whether in a database for new records (much like the patent office for new inventions) or by the copyright office itself. Chefs, much like artists or authors, take pride in their work. Just honoring the chefs for their recipes would be a great stride in this field. Although it would be extremely difficult to track down “copyright infringers,” chefs must somehow receive credit and/or praise for their culinary creations….after all, they are “inventors” themselves.
