science | Gladsome Lights

Thanks to Sandy at Junkfood Science for introducing me to Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug at his passing from this world. He lived an inspiring and humanitarian life in the field of agriculture, with which I feel a fundamental connection because my father was a farmer, another one who worked hard out of love. These pictures are of the fruits of his labors, and of the road we lived on in California’s Central Valley for most of my childhood.

All of us should feel that link, because we depend so critically on those who grow our food, but in these days when the percentage of the population devoted to agriculture is shrinking, I’m afraid the portion who never think of the farmers is on the rise.

While you are on that website, check out her many other articles on a broad range of topics about which she does the research and lets her readers in on the stories behind the often-misleading headlines.

Life is so complex. Even simple wheat is not to be taken for granted, as you can read in this news article that explains the time bomb [link expired. The 2009 article was about wheat rust.] threatening the world’s supply, and the multi-faceted challenge of making sure that we can continue to bake our bread.

Sure, there are other grains, but none that contains near the amount of gluten as wheat. Gluten is that unique substance that makes pizza dough (at left) such that it can be thrown in the air and stretched to bake into not only a crusty, but a chewy crust.

And if you’ve ever tried to avoid gluten in your diet, you might agree with me that the best breads require it. If we have to switch from wheat to rice or rye or triticale, I think there would be a lot fewer homey scenes like this one.