Urban Wheat Field Sprouts on Streets of New York

Urban Wheat Field Sprouts Busting Through Concrete and Myths in New York City

On Monday, October 6th, a live wheat field, approximately one quarter of an acre in size, sprouted at New York City’s South Street Seaport. The Wheat Foods Council’s “Urban Wheat Field Experience,” which ran October 6th through 8th, brings the farm-to-fork journey of America’s most-consumed grain to life with a wheat field, full-size combine, functioning mill, bread-baking station, nutrition lab and more.

The Urban Wheat Field surprises its visitors providing them with a new way to think about wheat by busting myths sprouting from factors such as wheat’s description as “amber waves of grain” in “America the Beautiful” and the nutrition-related misconceptions surrounding enriched white flour. For instance, wheat spends 90 percent of its life cycle green as opposed to golden, which is the color of nearly every wheat field pictured in the mind of Americans from New York to Los Angeles. The Urban Wheat Field proudly showcases lush green wheat.

“This grain is grown on 63 million acres of American land and we each consume nearly 138 pounds of it annually, but very few of us understand how wheat gets from the farm to our table,” said Marcia Scheideman, MS, RD, president of the Wheat Foods Council. “With the Urban Wheat Field we’re offering a unique experience that has the ability to educate people everywhere about the importance of wheat to our diets, economy and the world.”

To create the field, nearly one half million wheat kernels were planted in 300 4-foot by 4-foot pallets. The interlocking pallets create the wheat field with a pedestrian path running through it. The exhibit, opened from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. EST daily, and was located at the intersection of Water Street and Fulton Street. Established experts in the areas of wheat agriculture, milling, baking and nutrition guided visitors through each phase of the grain’s life cycle, engaging them in hands-on activities and demonstrations along the way:

Growers lead wheat field tours highlighting how, where and when wheat is grown, facts about annual production and consumption, and wheat’s impact on food prices and the U.S. economy.

Milling experts speak to the process that turns the kernel into flour, operate a mill and invite people to hand-grind their own wheat flour.

Chefs conduct bread-and cookie-baking demonstrations and explain flour’s transformation into the wheat foods eaten by millions of Americans
each day.

Registered dietitians explain the nutritional properties of wheat foods, the differences between whole-wheat and enriched wheat flour and the art of reading nutrition labels.

“This unprecedented event required the convergence of the entire industry, from farm to fork, and the Wheat Foods Council was able to orchestrate this unified front to make it happen,” said David Cleavinger, president, National Association of Wheat Growers. “Through the Urban Wheat Field we are educating and exciting America about wheat like never before.”

The Urban Wheat Field Experience is also available online at the Wheat Foods Council’s Web site, http://www.wheatfoods.org. Link here. The site provides educational materials outlining wheat’s journey from farm to fork as well as images, video and Scheideman’s daily blogs from the event.

About the Wheat Foods Council

The Wheat Foods Council is a nonprofit organization formed in 1972 to help increase public awareness of grains, complex carbohydrates, and fiber as essential components of a healthful diet. The Council is supported voluntarily by wheat producers, millers, bakers, and related industries.