The current ish of Gourmet has a fantastic article on the perennial-wheat movement, a group of agri-scientists, anthropologists and enviromentalists looking to bring back ancient wheat crops -- without genetic engineering.
Why perennial? Annual crops, which dominate big-agro wheat, die every year, and that means vast amounts of soil erosion, leading to problems such as the great dead zone of the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast.
The story text isn't online, but epicurious.com posted a Q&A here with the article's author Steven Johnson. The Q&A itself is a must-read. Yes, that Steven Johnson, who usually writes about high-tech and social/cultural trends and histories. Great writer, great thinker, and a great assignment by Gourmet. I'm happy to photocopy the Gourmet piece for those who want.
What does it say about the spread of eco-consciousness when one of America's oldest recipe mags runs a piece that argues for a complete change in our wheat production?
