People can grow vegetables and simply eat. But bread is way too complicated.
There is a bakers’ dozen of big steps to go from wheat into bread. And multiple special structures needed too.
Same with beer. Wine makes total sense but how do you even invent ale? How are these common foods everyone knows and uses?
I was thinking “imagine if mediveal people knew how to boil seawater and sell salt” and now I spent 20 extra minutes in the shower.
Salt was not expensive for people living near the coast/inland salt mines. It got very expensive for people not living near centers of salt production, where ships don’t help much with transportation. It’s heavier than water by volume, because it’s a rock.
I was adding to your comment, because you skipped over the shipping costs, which made up the majority of the price for people not lucky enough to live near salt production.
It’s like mangoes today. If you live where they grow, they’re cheap as fuck. If you don’t, they’re expensive, but not impossible for most people to purchase.