Wheat

Wheat is a kind of grass that humans grow for its seeds. The seeds, called grains or kernels, can be ground into flour. Flour is then used to make bread, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal, and many other foods. Wheat is one of the most important crops in the world. It grows on every continent except Antarctica.

A wheat plant looks a lot like the grass in a yard, but taller. It usually grows two to four feet high. At the top of each stalk is a head full of grains, sometimes with stiff bristles called awns sticking out. When wheat is ripe, the head turns golden brown. A field of ripe wheat looks like a sea of soft gold waving in the wind.

People have been growing wheat for a very long time. Farmers in the Middle East first planted it about 10,000 years ago, before the pyramids were built. Wheat was one of the first plants ever farmed. Before that, humans gathered wild grains by hand. Choosing to plant seeds and wait for them to grow changed everything. It let people stay in one place, build villages, and store food for the winter. Many historians say farming wheat helped start the first cities.

There are thousands of kinds of wheat. Most fall into a few main groups. Hard wheat has lots of a sticky protein called gluten, which is what makes bread dough stretchy. Soft wheat has less gluten and works better for cakes and cookies. Durum wheat is extra hard and is used to make pasta.

Wheat needs cool weather to start growing and warmer, drier weather to ripen. Some wheat is planted in the fall and rests under the snow all winter. It starts growing again in the spring. Other wheat is planted in the spring and harvested in late summer. China, India, Russia, and the United States grow the most wheat. In the United States, the flat plains of Kansas and North Dakota are full of wheat fields.

Some people cannot eat wheat. They have an illness called celiac disease, which makes their bodies react badly to gluten. Others choose to avoid gluten for different reasons. Food companies now sell many kinds of bread and pasta made without wheat.

For thousands of years, wheat has been more than food. It shows up on coins, flags, and family crests as a symbol of harvest, hard work, and having enough to share.