I had a bit of a discussion with someone on Reddit a while ago about American bread. They claimed decent bread was available in almost every bakery section of every grocery store. All American bread I remember was full of sugar and preservatives, not just the wonder bread type, but also everything else. Since my memory could be wrong, or one-sided, or perhaps things have changed, I left it at that.
Now I've been in the U.S. for over a week and visited at least one grocery store per day (we don't have reliable access to a fridge so we buy fresh stuff daily). I just cannot find anything close to the fresh bakery section in a Dutch supermarket. And compared to other European countries that isn't even a particularly high bar.
What I find is either to way too sweet and fluffy/cakey, and nothing even close to the mediocre pre-sliced bread back home. What am I doing wrong?
I've tried Aldi, Walmart and a few local(?) chains.
That's because you're going to Aldi and Walmart, which cater to the low end and are cheap above all else. Try a regular mid range grocery store like Safeway/Albertsons/Vons and you'll find a bakery section. But like the other commenter said if you want higher quality you'll have to go to a higher end grocery store like Whole Foods. Also depending on which part of the country you're visiting you'll find huge differences in food quality standards.