11/12/08 Urban Wheat Field

Sometimes a story comes along that just makes you feel good. Granted it hasn't happened a lot lately, which makes this one stand out even that much more. Children and many other spectators were treated to the rare sight of a wheat field in the middle of Manhattan, New York this fall. The quarter acre of wheat, which shared with visitors the growth journey wheat takes from emergence to maturity, was the brain child of the Wheat Foods Council and accurately called "The Urban Wheat Field. Thousands of people from all walks of life and areas of the country were treated by volunteer farmers from across the nation to a working exhibit of the history of wheat and what a staple of our lives it really is. And perhaps most importantly The Urban Wheat Field was visited by hundreds of school age children, hopefully sparking an interest in not only where their bread, pasta, or breakfast cereal begins its journey before they purchase it at the supermarket, but an interest and desire to be one of our nation's future farmers and food providers.