How Bread vs Rice Molded History
From this nexus, agriculture moved, each area of the world developing its grain of choice, rice in Asia, corn in America, sorghum on the African continent and wheat in the Mediterranean. The French historian Fernand Braudel defines these as the ‘plants of civilization’. New societies were constructed around the chosen one, agriculture, economy, exc
... See moreRachel Roddy • An a-Z of Pasta
It’s hypothesized that this very thing—rice farming versus wheat farming—is at the heart of communal societies going way back. Could it be, such a simple fork? A crop choice based on environment: wet, humid, rainy, therefore: rice. And with that a pervasive care throughout generations, a sense of knowing your happiness and health are intertwingled
... See moreCraig Mod • Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir
Wheat did it by manipulating Homo sapiens to its advantage. This ape had been living a fairly comfortable life hunting and gathering until about 10,000 years ago, but then began to invest more and more effort in cultivating wheat. Within a couple of millennia, humans in many parts of the world were doing little from dawn to dusk other than taking c
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