Bridge McKye

• Fertile Crescent
– Iraq, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Egypt
• Originally gathered as a wild grass
• Stone Age: Rocks used to grind wheat berries into flour
• 5,000 year old loaves of bread from
Egypt

• Cultivation of wheat began in 7,800 BC
• People began to domesticate wild wheat and cross different varieties
• Wheat begins to spread
– Southeastern Europe by 6,000 BC
– Europe, Central Asia, India, and Africa by 3,000 BC
– Americas in 1492 with Columbus

• First millstones in 5,500 BC
• Bread ovens by 3,300 BC
• Yeast in bread
• Animal power for milling used by the
Romans in 200 BC
• Sieves to filter flour- for pure bread
• Water mills appeared 2,000 years ago

• Domesticated wheat led to a sedentary lifestyle
• Cities
• Art, religion, science, education, literature
• Societies began to evolve around wheat
• Higher populations need higher wheat yields, leads to pushes for technology

• Crop rotations become more common
– Wheat, beans, root crops, fallow
• Technology and warm weather produce more reliable yields
• First machine applied to wheat production
– Automated seed drill

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• Transition from round loaves to rectangular loaves
• Separating components of flour
– Whole wheat flour-more nutritious
– White flour-doesn’t spoil as easily

• After WWII
• Agro-chemicals
• Crop Breeding
• Mechanization
– Tractors for planting, fertilizing, applying pesticides
– Threshers
– Transported by train
– Stored in grain elevators
• Increase in global trade

• Promoted high yielding, industrialized wheat in developing nations
• U.S. appeared to be acting on humanitarian concerns, but was really acting out of selfinterest
• Focus on breeding certain qualities into wheat
– High yields
– High quality
– Drought and disease resistance
– Weather resistant

• Wheat production was boosted in India,
China, and Mexico as well as more developed countries such as Britain and even the U.S.
• Along with increased wheat yields came many environmental problems
• Increased wheat production led to wheat being dumped on foreign markets

• 3 rd in world production
– 2000: 21 billion bushels on 520 million acres
• Provides 16% of calories in developing areas
• 36% from Asia, 17% from Europe, 16% from North America
• China is first in world wheat production followed by India and the U.S.
• Subsidized in many countries

• Wheat production is perennial and it is being harvested somewhere every month
• Can be grown in harsh, wind swept environment that are too cold for rice or corn
• 90% of wheat in industrialized nations is rain fed
• About half is irrigated in developing nations
– High amount of fertilizer used in these areas
• 90% of wheat grown worldwide is bread

• Scab
– Attacks the head of the grain
– Produces shriveled, bleached grains
– Can cause health problems in humans and animals
• Rust
– Responsible for the biggest wheat pandemic in the U.S.
– Produces red pustules on the plant

• Water pollution and overuse
– Chemical runoff and irrigation
• Soil degradation
– Erosion
– Fertility Loss
• Deforestation
• Habitat Loss
• Loss of biodiversity
• Fossil fuel dependence

• Celiac Disease
– Autoimmune disorder that attacks the villi of the small intestine
– Nutrients not absorbed
– Triggered by gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley
– 300 Symptoms
• Anemia, depression, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue
– Can appear at any age
– No cure, must eat a gluten free diet

• Whole wheat perceived as healthy in the
U.S.
• Atkins diet suggests eating as few carbohydrates and wheat products as possible
• Wheat is an ingredient in hundreds of foods
– Bread, crackers, cakes and cookies, pasta, tortillas, breakfast cereals

• Important to the ancient Greeks, Romans,
Egyptians, and Chinese
– Often associated with life forces and fertility
• Today Germany has the greatest variety of breads in the world
• Different countries are known for different breads

• Wheat and Christianity
– Key part of The Eucharist
– “Give us this day our daily bread”
• Many references to bread in daily language
– Bread basket
– Bread winner
– Bread=money
– Companion: Latin for “with bread”

• Men
– Apply chemicals, manure, fertilizer
– Spade work
– Sow the seeds
– Uproot the seedlings
– Market the grain

• Women
– Transplanting
– Storage
– Weeding
– Threshing
– Grinding the grain and cooking

• Many markets are opposed to G.M wheat
• Cross contamination
• Monocrops
• Transnational corporations
• Health concerns
• Expensive, little benefit for farmers
• Increased pest resistence

• Protecting the soil, water, biodiversity, community
• Need more community based, supported production
• Organic is a step in the right direction