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11 Where Do Grains Come From?

The grains we eat come from grass plants that people have cultivated over time. Some- one (or many someones) thousands of years ago realized that humans could eat certain seeds that came from grass plants. They also figured out they could grow those plants themselves rather than hope to find them growing in the wild. Over time, ancient farmers chose the best seeds to plant for the next season. They chose the ones that were the biggest and tastiest. The process of choosing the best seeds to plant is called domestication. Over many years, farmers were growing the grain plants we know today. When people first started eating grains, the seeds were tiny, and the plants looked a lot different from the ones we know today. But over those many years, the plants started getting bigger. They started producing bigger seeds that were easier to harvest. They did this because when farmers planted their crops for the next year, they usually chose the seeds from the plants that had had the biggest grains in the last harvest. People all over the world eat lots of different grains. In fact, grains are the main food in a lot of traditional diets. In Asia, for example, people often ate rice as their main food. In Europe, wheat was the main grain. In South and Central America, corn was the major grain. Today, with everyone traveling all over the globe, food has moved beyond where people traditionally ate it. People in Latin America eat rice. People in Asia eat corn. People in Africa eat wheat. Grains that come from grass plants include: MAKE CONNECTIONS You may recognize some of these grains, like corn and lima beans, as vegetables. Others, like soybeans and chickpeas, are also part of the protein food group (see chapter 3 for a discussion of food groups). How can they also be grains? We tend to consider these foods grains when they are dried. Take corn, for example. Corn fits the definition of a grain, because it is a seed from a plant in the grass family. However, people can eat fresh corn as a vegetable. If a farmer leaves corn on the stalk without picking it fresh, the corn kernels dry out. Each kernel is actually a seed. When the seed is dried, we can use it like a grain to pop or grind it into corn flour.

• wheat • barley • rice • corn • oats • millet • rye • teff • triticale