As isolated humans formed societies, they felt protected, could trade more easily, and the expanded association boosted the gene pool, but more people in a concentrated space needed an expansion of food cultivation. Bread, created primarily from harvested wheat, moved to the center of the menu in ancient Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. Similarly, the central staple food in the Americas was a form of bread made from a different grain: corn, and in East Asia, the grain was rice.
Early wheat, named Emmer, grew wild, and success in making bread with it led to genetic modifications to create the first wheat grown in the country, called Einkorn. As bread became a common food, those who grew it gained some security from it. Human marauders outside the society raided settlements, but they couldn’t easily steal wheat from the field or take more than a few sacks of grain. They were likely to demand tribute (some of the grain sacks) in exchange for saving the family and homes. If marauders took over an entire village, farmers were still needed, so why not leave them to pursue their trade?
From ancient times to the present day, the aroma of freshly baked bread, made by loving hands, excites the senses, especially the smell. As in earlier times, it is common for customers to receive bread as a gift, along with a menu in many restaurants. The phrase “Let’s break bread together” means that someone has offered to share their bread with you, that you are welcome in their home as a guest of honor.
It may be that because bread was so essential to humans, Jesus mentioned it when he formed the prayer (“The Lord’s Prayer”) that he taught his disciples. One line of the prayer is “Give us this day our daily bread.” Manna, which was said to have fallen from heaven for the Hebrews during their exodus from slavery in Egypt, was described as bread. Bread offered to customers or strangers is grace. Asking God for daily bread or receiving manna from heaven is God’s grace.
In the modern western world, most of the bread is processed in a distant industrial bakery, it is formed into a loaf, pre-cut for the consumer’s convenience, functional, practical and familiar. But the appetizing aroma, the sense of welcome in its service, and the grace itself are missing. “Here’s your sandwich. Eat it.”
Jesus used the bread of his Last Supper to explain to his disciples how his earthly ministry would end and the need for its ministry to begin (the foundation of Christianity). Search the web for the book of Matthew 26: 17-30. Jesus broke bread and shared the pieces as a symbol of his grace for them and for all mankind. Broken bread is not cut equally. Some disciples surely got large pieces and others got small pieces, but there too, the symbolism is rich. Each person receives the grace of God. We get so much grace that we need, not what we want.