Panelists Discuss Benefits of Alternative Wheat Sources

Although most individuals consume cereals and breads without giving much thought to the ingredients in the food, according to a panel that met Tuesday evening at the Geological Lecture Hall, modern citizens must begin to consider the larger implications that their food may have.

At an event sponsored by the Peabody Museum, panelists met to discuss the history of different varieties of wheat and the condition of modern wheat in light of environmental pressures such as increasing temperature and varying water levels.

According to Jade D’alpoim Guedes, a former Radcliffe Institute Graduate Student Fellow and long time archeological researcher, while there are 19,000 different varieties of wheat, “most farmers only use three.” Despite the seemingly vast amount of new grocery products each year, “ there is not much in our diet that is changing,” D’alpoim Guedes said.

Faced with such homogeny, D’alpoim Guedes fears the impact that the changing population and climate could have on our food sources. From the history of plants and diseases, D’alpoim Guedes believes that it has been shown that a lack of diversity can make a food supply vulnerable in the face of new diseases and conditions.

“When you are only growing one variety of plant, such as a potato, when you have disease known as a blight, it can cause massive devastation,” D’alpoim Guedes said.

Eli Rogosa, Director of the Heritage Grain Conservancy, offered tangible evidence on the benefits of diversity and less conventional wheat planting and harvesting practices.

“When a crop loses its biodiversity, it loses the capacity to adapt to evolving diseases, pests, and weather extremes,” said Rogosa.

Since modern wheat lacks variability, Rogosa, who farms 12 acres of wheat in Western Massachusetts, turns to a little known ancient wheat type known as landrace, or a local and long term domesticated variety of a crop. Explaining the appeal of landrace wheats, Rogosa explained that  they are safer for those with gluten allergies and have significantly higher nutritional values.

In addition, Rogosa addressed the evident concern over yield for landrace wheats. After half a decade of researching and recording, Rogosa said that “landraces actually yield higher than the modern wheats.”

As the current market for wheat stands, according to both D’alpoim Guedes and Rogosa, landrace wheats are largely unknown and subsequently ignored. But D’alpoim Guedes believes that as the populace becomes more educated about such varieties, landrace wheats may gain a larger appeal.