WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT
ANCIENT GRAINS?
From amaranth to einkorn, black barley to blue corn, farro
to millet, quinoa to sorghum, spelt to teff, these are grains
that have been underappreciated in Western supply chains.
They are heirloom varieties of more common grains, or
they’re grains that have mostly stayed the same over at
least the past century, if not longer. (More common grains
like modern wheat, corn, and rice, on the other hand, are
continuously bred or even genetically modified.) Ancient
grains were first grown 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, right
when the whole agriculture game was first kicking off.
And on the whole, they are more nutritious. People’s lives
depended on their nutritional value, and generation after
generation, the seeds were saved by hand and replanted
to ensure the food supply. They were also valued because
they could be grown in drought-intensive regions, something
that makes them all the more relevant today amid warming
global temperatures. Ancient grains tend to require less
water, pesticides, and fertilizers, and they are sturdier in
the face of sub-optimal soil and extreme weather. Millet,
for example, has the lowest water needs of all the grains
and thrives in Africa. Teff does particularly well in drought
conditions. Primarily because their seeds yield a fraction
of their modern counterparts, though, they fell out of favor
with the rise of our industrialized food system; we need to
feed a growing global population, after all. But their revival
is welcome for the many reasons described—from superior
nutrition and flavor to agricultural hardiness.available from purveyors like Bob’s Red Mill and Hayden
Flour Mills.
Mill it yourself. The taste of fresh-milled whole-grain flour is an
experience in itself. Often we consider grains to be merely
Stuff that Comes from the Ground 37