Italy baker makes ‘peace bread,’ sweets for Ukraine refugees

Baker Matteo Cunsolo is making and selling the bread in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, with proceeds going to a charitable fund helping refugees who cross into Italy or who are remaining in Ukraine.

By Associated Press

Charlene Pele, AP

Baker Matteo Cunsolo slices a loaf of ‘bread for peace’ in his laboratory in Parabiago near Milan in northern Italy. — Baker Matteo Cunsolo slices a loaf of “bread for peace” in his laboratory in Parabiago near Milan in northern Italy.

PARABIAGO, Italy — A small bakery in northern Italy is trying to do its part to help Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.

Baker Matteo Cunsolo is making and selling “peace bread” in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, with proceeds going to a charitable fund helping refugees who cross into Italy or who are remaining in Ukraine.

In addition, Cunsolo and area bakers made 1,325 pounds of cookies to give out to young refugees. He brought the sweets, along with a truck full of locally donated diapers, food, medicine and clothes, to the Ukrainian-Polish border earlier this month.

Baker Matteo Cunsolo uses saffron and the infusion of a Thai plant to make a bicolor loaf of “peace bread” with the colors of the Ukraine national flag and butter-sprayed the word ‘peace’ on its sides in solidarity with the war-battered country.|

“After running away from the bombs, perhaps traveling across forests by night in the cold, I think a cookie is like a little cuddle that can help bring a smile on a child’s face,” he said, standing in front of his industrial-sized oven at La Panetteria in Parabiago, near Milan.

Cunsolo said he got the idea to bake after watching a TV report about the reception Ukrainians were receiving at the Polish border: They were given something warm to drink and a piece of bread.

“When I heard the word bread I thought—‘OK I am a baker, what can I do to help?’”

He uses natural food coloring to make the bread: saffron to color the dough yellow, and an infusion made from the leaves of the blue butterfly pea flower to get the blue. Once baked, he uses a butter-based spray and a “PEACE” stencil to decorate each loaf.

Italian baker Matteo Cunsolo prepares his “bread for peace.”

“It’s a really important initiative,” said customer Maria Pascolin as she shopped at the bakery. “It’s a drop in the ocean, but if we all gave a contribution, it would help.”

Cunsolo is making about 44 pounds of “peace bread” per day, and so far has raised more than 2,000 euros ($2,214) for the local Lion’s Club charity drive.

“I believe in trying to help others in any way you can,” he said.

Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.