Delicious pumpernickel bagel.
Its tasty but what is it? First, a disclaimer. I’m going to be discussing traditional pumpernickel bread. The kind pictured to the right is almost certainly modern pumpernickel which gets its color from dark substances like molasses or cocoa powder, and often is made with wheat flower rather than the traditional rye. But that’s a boring story. This one is more exciting!
Check out the article in The Guardian about wheat farming and the future of genetically engineered wheat.
Nature Biotechnology has an article well worth checking out (if you have journal access anyway) about the story of biotech wheat. No genetically engineered wheat is commercially grown today, nor has it been in the past. Monsanto came close to releasing an herbicide tolerant variety several years ago, but didn’t because of fear that American farmers would lose valuable markets for our wheat exports. I speculated that genetically engineered wheat runs into more consumer opposition because we eat more wheat in recognizable forms (mostly bread and pasta) than we do crops like corn, soybeans, and canola.
Anyway, two new developments seem to have prompted this article. (more…)
Powered by WordPress