Spelt linked to cancer & other health problems, even as Big Ag muscles in on the market

[marmar]

from Grist:




Spelt linked to cancer & other health problems, even as Big Ag muscles in on the market

by Tom Philpott
1 Apr 2011 2:01 AM


Every year, thousands of Americans reject wheat and turn instead to spelt, an ancient grain. Are they making a grave error?

First, a bit of context. Domesticated from wild grasses in the Fertile Crescent (present-day Iraq) some 10,000 years ago, spelt eventually mutated into wheat after generations of seed selection by farmers. But even as new derivatives spun off, spelt germoplasm was preserved remained in use over the millennia. The Romans prized it. Julius Caesar is said to have insisted on having it for breakfast mushed into a kind of porridge. In his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon reports that the emperor once had a decorated legionnaire lashed mercilessly for the crime of feeding spelt mush to his horse.

The grain's fortunes declined with those of the Empire. By the Middle Ages, higher-yielding wheat varieties had almost completely displaced spelt from Europe's farm fields. Spelt persevered only in a few villages in Spain, Italy, and southern France, where traditional Roman-style smallholder farming held out.

Recently, of course, spelt has had a revival, conquering first the hippy food market (spelt salad, spelt bread) and later the burgeoning gluten-intolerant market. It turns out that spelt, while not completely gluten-free, has much less gluten than its offspring, wheat. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/scary-food/2011-04-01-spelt-linked-cancer-health-problems-big-ag-gets-into-market

[Tunkamerica]

1. Et tu Spelt?

[fasttense]

2. The Hippy Food Market?

Some people I know are rather hippy like and like to eat homegrown, good organic foods. Yet, the same number of people I know are uber rich and like to eat homegrown, good organic food. The new emphasis on poison free, healthy food is NOT restricted to Hippies.

[earthside]

3. Click the links ...

... that's all I'll say.


:rofl: