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Staple foods: stories to listen to | HearLore
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Staple foods
MaizeIn the deep caves of southern Mexico, a single grain of wild grass began a transformation that would eventually feed half the human race, yet for 9,000…
WheatThe first evidence of wheat cultivation appears not in a grand temple or palace, but in the quiet, rocky soils of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BC, where…
PotatoThe potato is not a root, but a swollen underground stem that defies the common understanding of what a vegetable is. These tubers form from thickened…
RyeIn the year 1536, the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote that rye was a very poor food and only served to avert starvation.
BeanFour or five raw red kidney beans can induce severe stomachache, vomiting, and diarrhea, a biological trap hidden within a staple food.
BreadThe oldest evidence of bread-making dates back 14,400 years to a site in northeastern Jordan, predating the invention of agriculture by thousands of years.