Are you a fan of Game of Thrones?  Did you know that it was filmed in Croatia?
 
When I envision Croatia, I think about agriculture, farming, and landscapes.  But I’m a big fan of cereal grains, as many of you know.  Join me for a conversation with my friends Dr. Ana Matin and Dr. Mateja Grubor, who are from the University of Zagreb.  We discuss research and teaching of agricultural and food systems.  And we also sample some of the local pelinkovac (if you haven’t tried this drink, you really should).  You can learn about their teaching and research at their university webpages.

If you are interested in learning more about grain production in Croatia, here is a report from the USDA.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.

Zivjeli!

Over the past year, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about grains, their history, their processing, and their use.  But, we have not yet spent time talking about grain production.  We need to talk about these aspects.

So, in today’s episode we will spend time talking about the importance of soil to crop production.  Our guest is Dr. Amber Anderson from Iowa State University.  She is a faculty member in the Department of Agronomy, is part of the Sustainable Agriculture Program, as well as Global Resource Systems.

More about Dr. Anderson can be found at her ISU faculty webpage:  https://www.susag.iastate.edu/people/amber-anderson-0

Are potatoes really grains or not?  It will be interesting to learn what lawmakers decide!!  For the latest information and industry stories about cereal grains, check out the Cereals and Grains Association’s webpage, especially their InGRAINed Newsletter at https://www.cerealsgrains.org/ 

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

How did you start your day?  Did you eat breakfast?

If so, what did you eat?  Do you ever eat breakfast cereal?

Personally, I eat cereal any time of day – it is a perfect snack for me!

Breakfast cereal has a long and suprising history.  Today’s guest is Dr. Kathryn Dolan, who has recently published Breakfast Cereal – A Global History.  You can find her book at Reaktion Books.  More about her can be found at her faculty webpage at Missouri S&T University.

Grab a bowl and listen in!

For the latest information and industry stories about cereal grains, check out the Cereals and Grains Association’s webpage, especially their InGRAINed Newsletter.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Did you know that Russia and the U.S.  have been competing to feed the world as far back as the late 1700s?

Today's guest is Dr. Scott Reynolds Nelson, who's book Oceans of Grain describes how the flow of wheat has been a maker or breaker of empires since ancient times.   More about him can be found on his University of Georgia faculty webpage.

If you would like an update on the grain situation in Ukraine and Russia, the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service has published an overview of the 2023/24 wheat harvest.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Whole grains?  Organic foods?  Recipes?  History?
This week we talk with Marlene Bumgarner about all of these topics.  She is the author of The New Book of Whole Grains (and several other books as well) in which she weaves a tapestry of deliciousness and practicality.  I highly recommend checking out her books and blog.  She has had a fascinating journey, one which I think you will enjoy learning about!
Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Have you ever eaten Pharoah's Bread (I found this in Paris, of all places!)?  Or heard of King Tut Wheat?  In this episode we talk to Dr. Liz Carlisle about her journey into the world of Kamut - an ancient Egyptian wheat, and her path into deeper understandings of the intersections between humans and agriculture.   She is an Associate Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she teaches and conducts research on transitions to more sustainable approaches to agriculture.  More information can be found at her faculty webpage as well as her personal webpage.
Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Welcome to the first episode of Season 2!  Have you ever wondered what students think about the things that they are learning?  I decided it was time to hear their thoughts.  Join me as we discuss what we have been learning in a graduate course devoted to Agroecosystems Analysis, the current state of farming and grain production, and the future of agriculture.  I think you will find our discussions wide-ranging and fascinating.  The future is in good hands with these emerging leaders!
Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Have you eaten corn recently?  Have you filled your car with ethanol this week?  How did the simple grass teosinte evolve to become corn, one of the most important cereal grains on the planet?  Join me for our last interview of 2023 as we talk to Professor Michael Blake from the University of British Columbia to learn about the origins and spread of maize.  We discuss the history, anthropology, and science of corn, all of which he writes about in his book Maize for the Gods.  For more information about him and his research, check out his faculty webpage.  If you are interested in the genetics of maize evolution, I also recommend one of his papers in the journal Science:

Genomic estimation of complex traits reveals ancient maize adaptation to temperate North America

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

How long have humans been storing grain?  If you listened to the last episode you may recall that it has been at least 11,000 years.  This episode is the second element of a duet which is focused on history.  It was an honor to talk with Dr. Ian Kuijt from the University of Notre Dame about his excavation work in Jordan, archaeology, as well as other aspects of history.  More about his work can be found at his Academia page and his University of Notre Dame webpage.  There you can his published works and his contact information.  

If digging into history and archaeology is of interest, I highly recommend the following papers:

• Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley (by Kuijt and Finlayson, 2009)
• Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan (by Arranz-Otaegul et al., 2018) 

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

The ways that we do things today have been informed by the ways that humans have done them throughout our history.  How long have humans been cultivating, harvesting, storing, and eating grain?  Can you believe that the archaeological record shows that humans have been storing and processing cereals for more than 11,000 years?  It was an honor to talk about grain archaeology with Dr. Bill Finlayson from Oxford University about the Agricultural Revolution and other related topics.  More about his work can be found at his Academia page and his Oxford University webpage.  There you can his published works and contact information.

In our next episode, we will continue our discussion about the archaeology and history of cereals.  We will talk with Dr. Ian Kuijt, one of Dr. Finlayson’s colleagues and fellow archaeologists.  Hopefully you enjoy this two-part series and find it enlightening.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.