What is the purpose of sugar in baking plain bread? My recipe says 1 tablespoon of sugar per loaf. 

This seems like too small an amount for flavor. 

The recipe is as follows:


3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup water
knead, wait 1 hr, knead again, wait 1.25 hr, bake for 30min @ 350


Is this for flavor, or is there another purpose?
Sugar has a few effects in bread:


It helps make it soft and tender by absorbing some of the water and slowing down the formation of gluten strands.
It feeds the yeast, resulting in a faster rise.
Via caramelisation, it aids in the browning of the crust.
It acts as a preservative, keeping the bread fresher for longer (though 1tbsp probably doesn't make a lot of difference).
It does have some effect on the flavour.