wheat

From the farm to my
table

It was November in one of Pakistani villages and
the fields were ready for the next crop. Asad,
who is a farmer, decided to plant wheat in the
field. Wheat is a tall grass used all over the world
as a staple food. Its seeds are used for making
flour. Asad planted the wheat by the mid of
December.

He watched the wheat grow in the winter and
spring. He kept a close watch on his crop. It
would be bad for the farmer if the wheat was
eaten by insects and other animals.

Asad was glad he spent the extra money for
seeds. These seeds were from a strong and
healthy kind of wheat that would resist many
plant diseases.

Finally, it was April, Asad called up his workers.
The wheat had turned golden and was ready to
be harvested.

The workers climbed into the big harvesters and
started their engines. As they rolled along the
field, the harvesters cut the wheat and
separated the kernels from the stems.

Asad saved some of the kernel, the seed of the
plant, to use again in November. The other
kernels were sold to a company who separated
husk from the grains and stored the wheat
grains until they were ready to be sold again.

This company sold the wheat grains to some
food companies, and even to some other
countries. One food company, a mill, ground the
wheat grains into flour. The mill sold the flour to
a bakery. The bakery made loaves of bread and
baskets of muffins.

Ahmad’s wife stopped by the bakery to buy the
bread for their dinner. Ahmad had a nice
sandwich with two slices of bread. The bread
came from the bakery. The flour that made the
bread came from a mill.

The mill made the flour from the grains they
bought from the grain elevator company.

The grain elevator company bought the wheat
kernels from Asad!