The Bread’s Journey

You wake up, grab your chair, Join the breakfast table, and fill yourself with the energy you need to start your day. But, have you ever taken a thoughtful look at the bread in front of you? Have you ever asked yourself about the process that brought this bread to your plate?
Guess what, the bread story does not start by you buying it from the nearby grocery; its story starts way before that.
Probably, the mother land of your bread wheat is another continent. The United States, which ranks third in producing wheat after China and India, exports about 23% of world wheat. There are many wheat farms in the United States; only Washington State has about 40,000 wheat farms. To narrow down, Pullman, WA exports 20% of its wheat to the Middle East. Farmers in Pullman use high-tech procedures in planting and protecting the wheat from different risks. Diseases, like stripe rust, threats like wire worm can form a serious problem if neglected. Farmers depend on natural rain fall in irrigating. Farmers have to wait until the wheat grows enough to be harvested. “Planting wheat doesn’t take that much work” Larry Cochran, a farmer from Pullman, said. He owns a farm of 2000 acres, and the only farmers who woke there is his wife and himself.
Farmers have to wait until the wheat grows enough to be harvested. Harvest usually takes place when wheat begins to turn to a golden color. A huge machine called a “Combine Harvester” is used to harvest the wheat, and separate the chaff from the wheat. The wheat then is put into a large container. The straw can be either sold for animal food, or cultivated. The wheat, on the other hand, is then taken to the silo, which can hold up to 250 Tons of wheat. It is the place where the wheat is cleaned and dried. The next step is separating the inner white piece from the outer skin. The course of breaking, sifting and reducing continues until the flour and bran is totally separated.
Wheat is then exported from Pullman to different places around the world including the Middle East. It is exported as flour, grain, and couscous. It is taken into barges, and then it gets transferred to cargos. The ships reach its destination, which could be your country. Wheat gets distributed to the bakeries and markets, where you find it, buy it as bread, or bake it at home.
So next time, before taking a bite of bread, remember of the long journey that brought your bread into your plate.


By: Reem, Salwa, & Amira