But then you're in the 'such as Minty' camp ... did you miss that bit?
And that is a small minority ... I am asserting.
And further to that might I suggest that the contents of the average person's fridge would not support the recipe, so they will scoff what they have instead.

Village Bakery White Sliced Batch Loaf.

Bought it Mon afty / Use by Thurs 1st.

Only any good for toasting come Tues morning.

There is too much boredom eating.

There you go, y'see, proper bread goes stale.
Have you never wondered about bread that stays "fresh" for a week?

Not since I watched Jimmy's Food Factory, no. Quite the eye opener.

I'm sure he has, but I'd reckon the vast majority of working families (or not working) would only be able to afford to buy daily fresh real bread loaves in their dreams, nor would have the time or inclination for a daily bake, so Rathbones @ 60p or Aldi special it is for them.

The problem with those gorgeous fresh bread loaves is that they are often too large unless you are part of a tribe.
So rather than waste it you have a couple of slices too many.
Counterproductive again.
Although a trick for reviving bread that has gone hard, not blue with mould may I add, is to put it into the microwave and zap it for 10 seconds.
You can then have it warm or let it cool and it's pliable again.

Unfortunately, it does often seem to be a binary choice, either buy rubbish or pay through the nose for so-called Artisan bread.
Why can't decent bread be priced lower than the fortune that is often charged for it?
I can't see that the extra proving-time should double the price.

I don't think that is the case.
Going back to Aldi, they sell some bread that is inexpensive that is very tasty and good quality.
They do a sliced bloomer that is excellent.

don't know if it's the same in the uk but in france where the french take their bread seriously the bread prices are effectively fixed by the government so a baguette in Calais should cost the same in Carcassonne