Grain trade – Wikipedia
The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice; bread sold in the United Kingdom represents produce from nearly every country outside the tropics.
History
Grain trade dates back to the Neolithic Revolution (around 11,500 BCE). Early trade was most likely by barter, and hauling large amounts of grain around was difficult. The development of the money economy and the wheel would have facilitated a much more expansive trade.
As Europe became more industrialized, it became net importers of grain from the world’s breadbaskets. The Homestead Act and the Dominion Lands Act allowed pioneers to obtain large swaths of land for little or no money, allowing grain growing and thus trading to expand on a much larger scale.
Modern trade
Grain transport has changed dramatically since WWII, with modern issues such as food security, biofuels, and climate change affecting the grain trade. Farmers in the European Union, the United States, and Japan are protected by agricultural subsidies, while other countries have attempted to have these policies disallowed.
References
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. One or more of the preceding sentences0incorporate text from a publication now in the public domain:. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopu00e6dia Britannica. 12 (11th-ed.) Cambridge University Press.
When did wheat spread around the world?
Farmers discovered ways to push the cultivation of various grains across vast regions between 5000 and 2500 BCE, where major mountain systems, such as the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan Mountains, contained and separated crop-compatible weather systems.
When was wheat changed?
However, in the 1950s and 1960s, a movement known as the “Green Revolution” transformed the world’s wheat crop.
What did wheat do in the Columbian Exchange?
Wheat was a very important crop in the 15th and 16th centuries, and it was brought to western America after the discovery of North and South America, where it was used as a major crop for food and income.
When was the first domestication of wheat?
The earliest known emmer wheat dates back to 8500 b.c. and originated in the “Fertile Crescent” region of the Near East. It was domesticated there and spread further west, reaching Greece in 6500 b.c. and Germany in 5000 b.c.
Where did wheat originally come from?
Wheat is thought to have originated in the Tigris and Euphrates river valley, near what is now Iraq, and was given the common name “cereal” by the Roman goddess Ceres, who was regarded as the grain’s protector.
Why is modern wheat bad for you?
The protein parts that cause celiac disease, known as epitopes, have increased in modern wheat breeding. Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Prizeu2013winning wheat breeder, not only introduced higher-yielding wheat, but inadvertently created a high-gluten wheat that humans have not evolved to digest.
Why is wheat suddenly bad for us?
Wheat raises blood sugar levels, causes immunological problems, inhibits mineral absorption, and irritates our intestines, and much of this is due to the fact that wheat isn’t what it used to be.
Is today’s wheat different?
Many people claim that wheat grown today is different than wheat grown previously, claiming that the gluten content of wheat has changed. To get the wheat we know today, two different breeding methods are used, both of which use variations already present in wheat’s lineage.
What is the oldest grain in the world?
Farro Monococcum is the oldest grain that has survived to this day.
Is wheat from the New World?
Wheat had not been planted in the Americas until explorer Christopher Columbus landed in the West Indies, despite the fact that it was first planted around 8,000 BC. Columbus was not the only explorer to introduce wheat to the New World; the first wheat crop was recorded in Kansas almost 350 years after Columbus landed.
Did wheat exist in the Old World?
Beyond Grass: Wheat’s Early Use As previously mentioned, early wheat was a member of the Triticeae family, which is classified under the Old World genus Triticum, and its seed heads were brittle and easily broken apart, with the hulls clinging to the grains.
Did wheat grow in America?
Wheat is grown in almost every state in the US, and it is the most common cereal grain. Winter wheat accounts for 70 to 80 percent of total production in the US, with Kansas (10.8 million tons) and North Dakota (9.8 million tons) producing the most.
How did wheat change humans?
Wheat, of course, was the first significant crop that changed the course of human history in the Old World. Our forefathers ate the bran, which was high in fiber, as well as the gluten, which was high in protein, and the fiber encouraged the growth of good gut bugs, which were required to digest the gluten.
Which country is the world’s leading wheat producer?
China is the world’s leading wheat producer, with 134,250 thousand tonnes produced in 2020, accounting for 20.66% of global wheat production, with the top five countries (India, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, and Canada) accounting for 63.46%.
Who first used wheat?
Missionaries from Mexico brought wheat to California in the late 1700s (Brigham 43).