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Industrial Farming
& The Green
Revolution
Advancements in farming and
food production in the 20th century
may have wrecked wheat. In the
1950s and 60s the Green Revolution
led to the development of highyielding varieties of cereal grains,
expanded irrigation infrastructure,
modernized management techniques, and distributed hybridized
seeds, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to farmers. Norman Borlaug,
considered the father of the movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize and credited with saving 1
billion lives. Borlaug pioneered new
“improved” species of semi-dwarf
wheat, that when combined with
complimentary fertilizers and pesticides increased yields spectacularly.
This amazing new farming technology was propagated around the
worlds by companies like Dupont
and Monsanto and most people in
the mid-20th century anticipated the
end of hunger.
Plant breeders changed wheat in
dramatic ways. Once more than 4
feet tall, the modern wheat grown
in 99 percent of wheat fields around
the world is now a stocky 18 inches
(1.5 feet) tall with an unusually large
seed head.
Applying new technologies to
improve efficiency and output to
help eradicate hunger is an instinctually grand goal. Unfortunately, the
processes in cultivation and milling
have had unforeseen or unpredicted
negative nutritional consequences.
This intense crossbreeding created
significant changes in the amino
acids in wheat’s gluten proteins. The
gliadin protein has also undergone
changes through crossbreeding.
Compared to its pre-1960s predecessor, modern gliadin is a potent appetite stimulant, per Dr. William Davis,
preventative cardiologist and author
of the 2011 book, Wheat Belly: Lose
the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and
Find Your Path Back to Health. He
also believes the new gliadin proteins may be connected to the rise
in inflammatory diseases. Scientists
are now connecting modern wheat
with nearly all chronic digestive and
inflammatory illnesses. Early evidence suggests that modern wheat’s
new biochemical code causes hormone disruption that is linked to
diabetes and obesity.
The Results &
Understanding The
Gluten-Free Craze
Dr. Davis maintains “this thing…
called wheat…ain’t wheat.” Instead,
it’s a distant relative of wheat that is
“genetically and biochemically lightyears removed from the wheat of just
40 years ago.”
Dr. Davis and those in his camp
assert we have mutant seeds grown
in synthetic soil and bathed in chemicals that are deconstructed and
pulverized into a fine dust, bleached