Rice
Corn
Wheat,Barley, Rye, Millet, Oats
Potato
Rubber tree
Maple tree
Garlic
Spider plant
Dandelion
Tobacco
Coca
Poppy
Cacao
Coffee
Mate
Tea
Peyote
Cannabis
Rice
I was born a grass called Oryza and my seeds were called rice. As a cereal grain, we were the most widely produced staple food in the world. We provided more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans. We were domesticated 13,000 years ago in China and we spread to Southeast and South Asia. We were introduced to Europe through Western Asia, and to the Americas through European colonization. We were often directly associated with prosperity and fertility and because of that people had the custom of throwing rice at weddings.
Some music while you read...
We required lots of rain and lots of work to be cultivated. The traditional method for cultivating us was flooding the fields while setting the young seedlings. This simple method required water damming and channeling, and reduced the growth of less robust weeds and deterred vermin. Our seeds were first milled and our outer husks of the grain called "chaff" were removed. At this point in the process, we are referred to as "brown". When our husk and the "germ", which was called "bran" were removed, then we were called "white". As white, we lacked important nutrients, but we kept fresh longer. When we were "white", we were often buffed with glucose to get polished and enriched with nutrients that we lost during the milling process. While the cheapest method of enriching involved adding a powdered blend of nutrients that easily washed off when rinsed, more sophisticated methods applied nutrients directly to the grain, coating the grain with a water-insoluble substance which was resistant to washing. When we were soaked, steamed and dried, in the husk, we were called "parboiled". That made us easier to process by hand and our nutrients became more easily absorbed when we were eaten. When we were parboiled, we did not stick to the pan during cooking. We were ground into flour and made many kinds of beverages, such as amazake, horchata, rice milk, and rice wine. We could be puffed or popped like popcorn. We were also made into various types of noodles, sprouted and added to salads. We were a good source of protein and a staple food in many parts of the world, but we did not contain all of the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts for good health.
We came in many forms dependent on how long our grain was. When our grains were long, we tended to remain intact after cooking. When our grains were medium, we became stickier and were called "risotto". When our grains were short, we were used for pudding. When we were soaked or quickly fried in oil or fat before boiling, we became less sticky. Our flour and starch were often used in batters and breads to increase crispiness. Our kernels did not contain vitamin A, so people who obtain most of their calories from us were at risk of vitamin A deficiency. German and Swiss researchers genetically engineered us to produce beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A, in our kernels. The beta-carotene turned us from white to gold and we were then called "golden rice".
I was born a very tall grass called maize and my flowers were called cobs or ears and the seeds they contained were called corn kernels. We were 2.5m tall and the tallest of us reached 12m high. As a cereal grain, we were the second most-produced cereal after rice. We were domesticated by indigenous peoples in Central America in prehistoric times. Our corn kernels were used in cooking as a starch. The Olmec and Mayans cultivated us in numerous varieties soaked and cooked us in an alkaline solution of lime-water.
When we were planted very close to each other we produced only one ear per stalk. We had shallow roots and were susceptible to droughts, intolerant of nutrient-deficient soils, and prone to be uprooted by severe winds.
We were planted by indigenous peoples with beans and squashes in a complex system known as the Three Sisters. The three crops benefited from each other. We provided a structure for the beans to climb on eliminating the need for poles. The beans provided the soil with nitrogen derived from nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria which lived on their roots, and the squash spread along the ground, blocked sunlight, preventing weeds from growing. The squash leaves acted as a "living mulch" retaining moisture in the soil, and their prickly hairs deterred pests. Maize lacked the amino acids lysine and tryptophan which the human body needed to make proteins and niacin, but beans contained both. Beans eaten with us provided man a balanced diet.
Beginning about 2500 BC, we spread through much of the Americas. After the Europeans arrived, explorers and traders brought us back to Europe. We then spread to the rest of the world because of our ability to grow in diverse climates. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn were grown for human consumption, while field corn varieties were grown for animal feed. When machines evolved and faced a shortage of petroleum to feed on, almost half of us were converted to ethanol which the machines gulped down like they were drunken humans.
We formed the main ingredient of tortillas and tamales, and all the dishes based on them like tacos, enchiladas, and tostadas. We were made into a thick porridge in many cultures, from polenta in Italy to cornmeal mush in America. We also replaced wheat flour to make cornbread and other baked products. Our kernels exploded when heated to make popcorn. When fermented, we made the powerful drink called Chicha. When fermented and distilled, we produced grain alcohol, the source of Bourbon whiskey. When pressed and roasted, we made corn flakes. When boiled, we made corn on the cob. When pressed, we made corn oil. When our starch was hydrolyzed and enzymatically treated, we made high-fructose corn syrup.
Our ears develop half way up the stem and grew about 3mm each day to a length of nearly 20cm. They were female cluster of flowers, tightly enveloped by several layers of leaves commonly called husks. Elongated silky strings called silks emerged from the whorl of husk leaves at the end of the ear. They looked like tufts of hair. Our stem ended in a male cluster of flowers called the tassel. When conditions were suitably warm, our tassel released pollen which was dispersed by wind to land a few meters away.
If the silky string was fertilized by a pollen, it developed into a corn kernel. An ear commonly held 600 kernels of various colors; blackish, bluish-gray, purple, green, red, white and yellow. When ground into flour, maize yielded more flour with much less bran than wheat did. It lacked the protein gluten of wheat and therefore made baked goods with poor rising capability. A genetic variant of our fruit that accumulated more sugar and less starch was consumed as a vegetable and called sweet corn. Young ears were consumed raw with the cob and silk, but as the plant matured during the summer months, the cob became tougher and the silk dried to become inedible. By the end of the growing season, the kernels dried out and became difficult to chew without first cooking them tender in boiling water.
I was born a grass called wheat and my seeds were also called wheat. As a cereal grain, we were the third most-produced cereal after rice and corn. We were domesticated 11,000 years ago in the regions known as the Fertile Crescent and the Nile Delta. The early Egyptians baked us into bread. We could self-pollinate and we were one of the first cereals to have been domesticated. We reached Greece, Cyprus and India by 6500 BC and Germany and Spain 1500 years after that. By 3000 BC we had reached England and Scandinavia. 1000 years later we reached China. We were a key factor enabling the emergence of city-based societies at the start of civilization because we were one of the first crops that could be easily cultivated on a large scale and had the additional advantage of yielding a large enough harvest that could be stored a long time without spoiling.
We were used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, pasta, noodles, and couscous. We were fermented to turn us into liquid bread called beer. Our stems called straw were used as a construction material for roofing. Our whole grain was milled leaving just the endosperm for white flour which was mostly starch but stayed fresh without going rancid. The by-products were bran and germ, a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, protein and fats. We were germinated and dried creating malt, crushed or cut into cracked wheat, parboiled or steamed, dried, crushed and de-branned into bulgur which was also known as groats. We were a major ingredient in porridge, crackers, muesli, pancakes, pies, pastries, muffins, rolls, doughnuts, gravy, and processed breakfast cereals. Our protein was easily digested by nearly 99% of human population, as was our starch. We were also an important source of animal feed, 7kg of our grain producing 1kg of beef.
We were grown on more land area than any other commercial food. Wheat provided more nourishment for humans than any other food source because of our ability to grow from near arctic regions to the equator, from sea level to altitudes of 4000m above sea level. We were the most important source of carbohydrate in a majority of countries. Globally we were the leading source of vegetable protein, having higher protein content than soybeans or the other major cereals like corn or rice. In terms of total production used for food, we were second only to rice.
Traits that made us an attractive food source also caused us to lose our seed dispersal mechanisms, and like the domesticated silkworm, made us unable to survive in the wild.
Barley
I was born both male and female. I am a self-pollinating, species with 14 chromosomes. I was one of the first cultivated grains. I am known for providing animal fodder, and as a fermentable material for beer. Elongated silky strings that looked like tufts of hair reflected the sunlight into shades of white, yellows, reds, and browns that shimmered. If the silky string was fertilized by a pollen, it developed into a corn kernel. My grains are commonly made into malt. I became a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally, ranked fourth behind corn, rice and wheat.My grains are commonly made into malt. I became a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally, ranked fourth behind corn, rice and wheat.
Rye
I am closely related to barley and wheat. My elongated silky strings are not as beautiful as the flowing hair of barley. They are more of a beard. They are thicker and so heavy that they can droop over. I have fewer hairs, but my grains are larger. If each strand of hair is fertilized by a pollen, it developed into a corn kernel. My grain is used for bread, beer, whiskey, some vodkas, and animal fodder. I grow well in much poorer soils and can survive snow cover and frost better than most of my cereal cousins. Because of this, I am a valuable crop in regions where the soil has sand or peat.
Millet
I was domesticated in different parts of the world as I am very resistance to drought.. I adapted to poor, droughty, and infertile soils, and was more reliable under these conditions than most of my cereal cousins. Because of this, I became one of the major crops in the semiarid, impoverished, less fertile agriculture regions.
Oats
I grow best in temperate regions and have a greater tolerance of rain than other cereals, such as wheat, rye or barley. Because of this I am particularly important in areas with cool, wet summers. I am particularly greedy for nitrogen and for this I grow fast and have a short life.
I was born a potato plant, native to North and South America. I was domesticated 10,000 years ago in southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia. Like with dogs, centuries of selective breeding caused me to change into over 4000 different types. My tubers with white flowers had white skins, while those with colored flowers had pinkish skins.
My tubers were exported soon after Columbus discovered the lands for the Europeans. Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced me to Europe. I was slow to be adopted by distrustful European farmers, some of whom ate my toxic leaves and nearly died from poisoning. Compounds which protected me from predators were found in my leaves, stems, sprouts, and fruits. When humans ate those compounds, it caused weakness, confusion, headaches, diarrhea and cramps. In severe cases, it caused coma and death. Once the Europeans realized that my tubers found underground should be eaten, I became an important food staple and field crop and played a major role in the European population boom. However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left me vulnerable to disease. 170 years ago in Ireland, where I was grown as a staple food, a disease caused by fungi decimated me and caused a great famine causing many surviving Irish to move to and settle in North America.
After we flowered and were pollinated by bees, we produced small green fruits that resemble green cherry tomatoes. Each contained up to 300 seeds that could grow into new potato varieties depending on how they were pollinated. Existing potato varieties could be propagated as clones by planting tubers or pieces of tubers. We were used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka and aquavit. Our starch was used as thickeners and binders of soups and sauces and as adhesives. Our skins, along with honey, served as a remedy for burns. Humans could survive healthily by eating my tubers supplemented only by milk or butter, which contain the two vitamins A and D that I lacked. I became an integral part of much of the world's cuisine; coming in as the fourth-largest food crop, following rice, corn and wheat.
I was born a rubber tree. I lived for 30 years in the Amazon rain-forest growing up to 30m. I was of major economic importance to humans because of my very special sap called latex which spiraled up my bark. It was milky water containing polymer micro particles. When humans extracted latex from me, it was like they were milking me. They made incisions just deep enough to tap the latex and collected it in small buckets. This process was known as rubber tapping. The older I got, the more latex I had. The Olmecs of Central America extracted and produced similar forms of primitive rubber from similar latex-producing trees 3600 years ago. The rubber was used to make the balls used in their ballgames.
Adding sulfur to the heated latex formed cross-links and bridges between individual polymer chains. This process was called vulcanization. A vast array of products was made with vulcanized rubber. Car tires, shoe soles, hoses, conveyor belts, hockey pucks, bowling balls, door and window profiles, belts, matting, flooring, dampeners, rubber bands, pencil erasers, elastics for textiles, condoms, gloves and toy balloons were all made from rubber.
There are 2 main solvents for rubber; naphtha and turpentine. Naphtha is a distillation of petroleum, coal tar, or peat. Turpentine is a distillation of resin obtained by tapping pine trees.
I was born a sugar maple tree, a symbol of strength and endurance. I had a very distinctive fruit. Each seed was attached to a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue shaped to spin like helicopter blades. When the seeds fell, they flew a considerable distance away. I did not like any baby trees to be too close to me, even if they were my own. Seeds that landed too close to me and sprouted were eventually killed by my shade. My seeds remained dormant in the soil for several years until they went thru a cold and moist winter. Then and only then were they tough enough to germinate. I had valuable timber, often known as "hard maple" and was the wood of choice for bowling pins, bowling alley lanes, pool cue shafts, and butcher's blocks. Due to my stiffness and strength, I was also commonly used in the archery business to make bows. I had bright autumn foliage that attracted people from all over the world that came to watch and wonder at my beauty.
I was not tapped for resins or rubbers like pine and rubber trees were. I was tapped for my sweet syrup called maple syrup. In the spring, on frosty cold nights, as my branches froze, sap that was sucked up by my branches from my roots froze solid. When and if the temperature rose above freezing the next day, the frozen sap melted and fell down under gravity. If I was tapped, the falling sap fell into the buckets. When my sap was boiled, it produced maple syrup, maple sugar or maple taffy. It took about 40 liters of sap to make 1 liter of syrup.
Our dried wood was often used for the smoking of food. We were used to make pulpwood because our fibers had relatively thick walls that prevented collapsing upon drying. This gave bulk and opacity to paper giving it good printing properties as it was stiffer and less transparent. Some of us had a highly decorative wood grain making us famous for making furniture.
We were very musical. We carried sound waves well, and were used in numerous musical instruments, being even harder and having a brighter sound than Mahogany. We were used to make the backs, sides, and necks of most violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. We were used to make bassoons and other woodwind instruments and gave drums a bright resonant sound.
I was born a close relative of onions, shallots, leeks and chives. I was a native of Central Asia and humans have used me as food, seasoning and medicine for over 7000 years. We spread to the Mediterranean region, Africa, and Europe and Egypt, dating at least as far back as when the Giza pyramids were built. Our use in China dated back to 2000 BC.
I produced flowers with both male and female reproductive organs that were pollinated by insects and bees. Those of us growing wild had sex. Those of us who were domesticated and cultivated by man practiced asexual reproduction. We produced clones of ourselves from parts of our bulbs called cloves or teeth which men planted like they did with potatoes. We were very hardy and perhaps because of our strong odor, we were able to repel many pests, diseases, rabbits, and moles. We even repelled those humans who preferred to smell like sweet smelling flowers and who used excessive perfumes to cover their own natural smells.
We were widely used around the world for our pungent flavor as a seasoning. A large number of sulfur compounds were the cause of how we smelled and tasted and why we turned green or blue when we were pickled and cooked. We were infamous for causing “bad” breath as well as causing sweat to have a pungent "garlicky" smell. Sipping milk at the same time as eating us significantly neutralized the “bad” breath we gave our eaters.
We were very efficient at keeping our eaters healthy. We helped prevent atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer, the common cold, and we were good at regulating blood sugar levels. We were used as an antiseptic and prevented gangrene. We were used as a treatment for infections, especially of the chest, digestive disorders and fungal infections such as thrush. We enhanced thiamin absorption and therefore reduced the likelihood of our eaters developing thiamin deficiency which caused beriberi resulting in weight loss, emotional disturbances, impaired sensory perception, weakness and pain in the limbs, and periods of irregular heart rate. Because of our high vitamin C content, we prevented vitamin C deficiency which caused scurvy resulting in a general feeling of being unwell, lethargy, infections, easy bruising, gum disease, loosening of teeth, and poor wound healing. When put in mouths, we kept microbes away. We were also an efficient method of birth control, keeping the opposite sex away.
I was born a flowering plant and was able to reproduce without having sex. I was a native to tropical and southern Africa. I had fleshy tuberous roots that functioned as storage organs permitting survival from one year to the next.
Our flowers were produced in clusters that grew out and eventually bent downwards growing little plants at their tips that were clones. This allowed us to reproduce asexually. We reduced indoor air pollution by neutralizing formaldehyde.
I was born a very hardy and edible flowering weed and was able to reproduce without having sex. I grew everywhere and was gathered by man since prehistory. I lived as long as my taproot was left intact. I didn't have sex, practicing asexual reproduction. My seeds did not need to be pollinated and fertilized. They produced clones genetically identical to me. We evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia. Our flower heads made up of a cluster of yellow to orange colored flowers opened in the daytime and closed at night. They matured into spherical seed heads containing many single-seeded fruits attached to fine hairs which, like parachutes, were dispersed far away by the wind. Our hollow stems were filled with milky latex.
We were a very beneficial weed with a wide range of uses. We were good companion plants for gardeners because our taproots brought up nutrients for shallower-rooting plants and added minerals and nitrogen to soil. We also attracted pollinating insects and released ethylene gas which helped fruit to ripen. Our leaves were edible, especially when we were blanched by being covered from light till we were pale and no longer bitter. We were not only delicious but also very nutritious containing abundant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C and K and were good sources of calcium, potassium, iron and manganese. Our flower petals made excellent dandelion wine. Our ground, roasted roots made caffeine-free dandelion coffee and was one of the ingredients of root beer, the delicious tasting soft drink. We were used in herbal medicine to treat infections, bile and liver problems. Our roots had a strong diuretic effect promoting the production of so much urine that we were sometimes called "pee a bed".
I was born a shrub called Nicotiana by scientists who studied me, but I was known simply as tobacco by the people who grew and smoked me. I had such big lush leaves and attractive pink sweet-smelling flowers that I was also grown as an ornamental plant. I was native to tropical America and was domesticated and cultivated for the past 1500 years. Like the silkworms and wheat, I was no longer found in the wild. North American natives carried large amounts of me in pouches as a form of money and often smoked me in peace pipes, either in sacred ceremonies, or to seal a bargain. They believed that I was a gift from the Creator and that the exhaled smoke carried one's thoughts and prayers to heaven. Upon the arrival of Europeans in North America, they set up plantations to grow me and I was the number one cash crop until I was replaced by cotton.
My active ingredient, nicotine was an alkaloid found in my leaves and I was very addictive and very harmful. A great deal of harm came from the thousands of different compounds and additives derived from processing, burning and curing to make me milder to be smoked. One third of the entire world's adult population smoked me, making me a very successful killer product. I was the leading preventable cause of death worldwide and killed 5.4 million people every year. My dried leaves called tobacco were used as a pesticide, as ingredients of medicines, and as a recreational drug. We were rolled into cigars and cigarettes, stuffed into pipes and smoked, or stuffed into mouths and up noses and chewed and snuffed. I was very expensive and very addictive. The poor people, who could afford me the least, smoked me the most, spending up to 15% of their total income on me.
I was born a coca plant native to western South America. I was a cash crop in Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. I was known throughout the world for my psychoactive alkaloid called cocaine which was a highly addictive stimulant and became one of the most widely consumed drugs in the world and the source of large amounts of money to various criminal organizations. I contained so little cocaine that its extraction from my leaves required complex chemical processes. Natives chewed my leaves with lime to numb their senses of hunger, cold, pain and exhaustion, without getting any euphoric and psychoactive effects that cocaine promised. I was made into patent medicines, syrups and tonics, the most well-known being the popular sugared soda drink called Coca-Cola. Cocaine was eventually outlawed and removed from the drink, but Coca-Cola continued to give drinkers a rush because of its high content of sugar, another very highly addictive drug.
I was born a poppy and grew like a weed everywhere. I grew over 1m tall and my blooms were more than 15cm wide. I was one of the first plants to be grown and used, 12,000 years ago. People used my beautiful flowers not only as a decoration but also for food and for my latex which contained powerful medicinal alkaloids. My seeds were rich in oil, carbohydrates, calcium, and protein, and were used as a spice and to make products used in paints, varnishes and cosmetics. When my latex was dried, it was called opium. Opium contained many alkaloids, the most famous being codeine and morphine which relieved pain allowing ancient surgeons worldwide to perform prolonged surgical procedures. Opium was used with poison hemlock to put people quickly and painlessly to death. When modern chemists added two acetyl groups to morphine, they formed an ester of morphine called heroin.
I was born a cacao tree with very special seeds called cocoa beans containing an active compound similar to caffeine. I was native to the deep tropical region of South America. My name meant "food of the gods". My seeds were used to make chocolate. While most flowers were pollinated by bees, my flowers were pollinated by tiny flies. My fruit, called cacao pods, were 30cm long and 10cm wide. They contained 20 - 60 seeds called "beans" which were embedded in a white pulp and looked like almonds. My seeds were the main ingredient of chocolate, while the pulp was used to prepare a refreshing juice. Each seed contained up to 50% fat called cocoa butter.
I contained antioxidants and caffeine and provided man with many health benefits. I was associated with providing humans a calm but alert, focused and productive mental state. I was very effective for treating eye infections when applied externally on the eye. All teas come from the same tea plant. Based on how I was processed, I was divided into categories like green, oolong and black. Black tea is fully oxidized, hence its black color. In between, I was oolong, which was partially oxidized. I could be greener or darker depending on their specific degree of oxidation. I was often blended from various categories to improve my taste so that I could be sold for more money. I was a vital ingredient of life for every part of the British population. I was popular at first only among the upper classes who could afford to buy me. Taxes kept my prices high and smuggling developed to avoid the taxes. When more of me was smuggled than legally imported, law abiding traders pressured the government to slash the import duty on me, wiping out the illegal smuggling trade virtually overnight. Once I was affordable for the masses, I became a truly popular drink.
European goods were traded in Africa for slaves who produced sugar on sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean. Because of my slightly bitter taste, I was drunk with sugar. Tea houses and tea gardens flourished and china tea sets and less costly versions in pottery became an essential part of fashionable households as soon as women were marketed to consume me. As I became cheaper, I spread rapidly to the working classes, becoming the most widely consumed beverage in the world, next to water.
We were used by many civilizations during the last 12,000 years. We were used for fibers because of our long stems. Some of us grew more than 6m tall. We made very hardy ropes and textiles that were much stronger and lasted much longer than cotton. We also made very high quality paper. We grew very fast everywhere and burned extra hot making useful fuel.
My dried flowers, called marijuana, contained THC, and got people "high". We induced a state of relaxation, euphoria, and promoted philosophical and meditative thinking, examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings and knowing about knowing that made many giggle. We were used to treat glaucoma, a condition of increased pressure within the eyeball causing gradual loss of sigh. We offered relief from pain, calmed spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis and asthma, and fought off chemotherapy-induced nausea, and helped people fall asleep.
Our fruit grew everywhere and gave people a “let it be...” attitude that turned into a “care free” attitude that was easily change into an “I don`t care” attitude. That attitude kept people passively and peacefully drifting down the river in whatever direction it flowed, whether thru rapids of war, or thru the marshes of regrowth.
We became outlaws and we were replaced by sugar, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and codeine that were highly addicted, difficult to grow, and more difficult to process. Drugs from these plants were very powerful and promised to help man in coping with the daily stresses.
Cocaine, from the coca beans and its milder cousin caffeine, from the coffee beans, gave man the necessary perseverance so that he was able to work as hard and as long as he was forced to work by numbing his aches and pains.
Sugar, found in most fruit, sweetened his embittered life and gave him a temporary energy kick to make him momentarily stronger than he really was.
Alcohol, the excretions of bacteria from the sugars they ate was very intoxicating. It made man feel stronger and happier than he really was.
Nicotine, found in the tobacco plant, relaxed him making him feel more like smoked meat than the burned out one that he really was.
Francis
of Assis, Johnny Appelseed`s friend, Charles Darwin, Deer tick
THE END
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