The Plant That Tamed You

Think about what you ate today. Bread, rice, noodles, beer, the cereal this morning, the corn fed to the animal on your plate. Now consider that you may not have chosen any of it — that a family of grasses chose you, and that you have spent your whole life in their service.

Long ago, wheat was a scrappy wild weed in one corner of the Middle East. Then a few humans began clearing its rivals, watering it, guarding its seeds, carrying it to fresh ground. From the grass's view this was a magnificent deal. We broke our backs weeding and harvesting; we gave up the wandering life; we crowded together, caught new diseases, and ached from the labour. In return the grass got us to spread it across every continent until it blanketed the planet.

Domestication is usually told as something we did to plants. Turn it over. Wheat, rice, and corn now cover more of the Earth than any wild thing could dream of — and they managed it by domesticating us, turning a clever ape into a full-time farmhand.

You have worked for a grass your entire life. So has everyone you know.

And if a plant could quietly run the human race — what else in your kitchen is steering you?