Roman times it was considered a weed or a
diseased form of wheat. By 1600 it had
become an important crop in northern Europe,
in whose wet climate it does best; oats require
more moisture than any other cereal but rice.
Other countries, however, continued to
disdain it. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary
(London, 1755) gives this definition for oats:
“A grain, which in England is generally given
to horses, but in Scotland supports the
people.”
Today the United Kingdom and the United
States are the largest consumers of food oats.
U.S. consumption was boosted in the late 19th
century by Ferdinand Schumacher, a German
immigrant who developed quick-cooking
rolled oats for breakfast, and Henry Crowell,
who was the first to turn a cereal from a
commodity into a retail brand by packaging
oats neatly with cooking instructions, labeling
it “Pure,” and naming it “Quaker Oats.” Oats
are now a mainstay in ready-to-eat granolas,
barry
(Barry)
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