“Bread Lady’s” Small Business Typifies A Growing Trend

Every weekend morning, dozens of people in the Cape May, N.J., area drive, bike, or walk to a small farm stand to buy loaves of bread baked that week in a clay wood-fired oven.  A variety of bread flavors are available from the 28-year-old “the bread lady” and her partner, including beet and dill, rosemary and thyme, smoked garlic, and others. Elizabeth Degener – the fourth generation of the family that has owned the farm -- says her “free-form” business is "very lighthearted". It is also an example of a growing trend: people living off the land and supplying local communities with fresh produce and home-produced foods. It’s also perhaps a sign of how far peoples’ tastes in bread have evolved from the Wonder Bread days.