When Quinn was a child, a mysterious man gave him a strange-looking grain at a local carnival. Prices for their yields are low - a market necessity in order to keep food prices as low as modern American consumers have come to expect at their grocery stores. Modern farming practices are hard on the land, requiring more and more fertilizer and pesticides to squeeze enough wheat from every acre. Quinn said it was simple - the wheat is "tired." So Quinn decided to take a closer look at his wheat. To Bob Quinn, a third-generation wheat farmer from Montana, the shift was completely perplexing. Wheat has been around for millennia, maybe 10,000 years, but only in the past few decades has intolerance to the gluten in wheat-based foods become a problem. Farmer Bob Quinn: The Story of King Tut’s Wheat Some is more existential - have you really thought about the cultural memory that can be carried forward by the kind of crops we grow?Īnd in case all else fails, we have a plan for the doomsday scenario - it involves a desolate village in the Arctic Circle guarding a deep underground vault that doubles as a public art display. Some of their advice applies to your next grocery trip. But we do need to heed the advice of "seed savers." Farmers and scientists have worried about the fragility of our food system for decades, and have gained vital insights into ensuring healthy crops for future generations. ![]() We may never have to confront this doomsday scenario. Because if catastrophe strikes, don’t you need a backup plan? The seeds that grow corn, wheat, rice and other crops. ![]() But if you really want to understand where our food comes from - and the potential threats to the food supply - you have to think about seeds. Most of us get our food from the grocery store, not the fields where it grows.
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