Discovery How Stuff Works : Wheat

1. I'm interested in what else Richard Stoner invented (:
2. A very noisy, but otherwise good documentary, in the end I had to give it up
3. The Wheat Board at the end.
4. Mhmm
   Fish and wheat are related
   Because theyre polyploids.......
   That makes them related
   Shut the fuck up discovery
   Go home
   You're stupid
5. The Australian outback (Northern Territory highlighted specifically in this episode) is NOT recognised as a grain growing area of Australia. See 'Australian grain production'
6. why are us farmers still getting the same amount of money per bushel as we did in 1972
7. Winter wheat seed doesn't remain dormant until spring. In germinates somewhat quickly after fall planting and does grow quite a bit before the snow flies. Sometimes it grows enough that some farmers run cattle on it and the plant recovers come spring to go ahead and produce a grain crop.. Here very few farmers own their own combines and trucks. Custom harvesting crews are the rule.
8. Wow, let's all bow down to the god of wheat. Now advertise hemp.
9. The narrator seems to be forgetting one big problem with growing essentially baby plants for eating, source for seed. Someone has to grow fields of wheat to get seeds to grow aeroponically. It is more efficient to use the grown wheat directly for food than to grow it for seed to grow baby wheat plants to consume. Now, nutritional comparisons may be in favor of baby wheat plants, but what are the "costs"? It could be made more efficient if the end consumer sprouted their own wheat from whole wheat kernels. This would bypass the milling process and potentially increase nutrition compared to milling and turning the flour into food. Mr Stoner forgets that indoor grow operations use electricity, which has to be generated. Any reduction in "carbon footprint" by growing more biomass will be offset by the electrical generation needed to power it. Solar and wind "could" generate the electricity but at a steep cost that no company will want to bother with. This could potentially be offset if the roof allowed in sunlight but if it did, you still have to heat and cool the building to do year round growth. It would essentially be a big greenhouse. In that situation, you might as well just use a standard heated greenhouse or just grow outdoors to bypass all the inefficiencies. A big problem with a lot of modern thinkers is that a lot of new "improvements" are not actually improvements in the grand scheme of things. Sowing a field of wheat, growing, harvesting, and directly turning into food is still more energy efficient and productive than any greenhouse or greenhouse like setup aimed at year round production. Instead of trying to find new ways of growing wheat indoors, try to find new ways to increase yields in the fields while reducing the need for pesticides and fertilizers. That would be real improvements. To figure out real improvements, you need to look at the big picture and factor in everything. Of course, when you do, you will usually find your great idea isn't so great so many don't bother looking. Instead they push forward with their idea in hopes it will be accepted by the masses despite not being an actual improvement to what currently exists.
   
   Concerning the growing world population and the food supply, I can tell you all exactly how to solve it, but it will take time, research, and money. Humanity needs to find out exactly what nutrients a human needs in all stages of life. Not just some of the nutrients but every single nutrient that is needed. This would involve numerous studies of food crops and humans along with extensive research into diet and health. Once we know everything about what humans need, then the chemists step in and formulate nutritional supplements/artificial foods made from straight chemicals that can effectively replace food crops. Keep growing food crops but allow those who wish to to live on non plant derived "food". Artificial food created in labs. Not the prettiest option but it could actually solve the coming food shortages by having at least a portion of the population living on "food" that doesn't have to be grown. There are a lot of people who would be perfectly content living on a nutritional supplement without the intake of physical food. This is why Soylent has become so popular and will continue to grow in popularity. The issue is Soylent isn't good enough to be a complete food replacement. Humans just don't know enough about what we need to live, survive, and thrive.
   
   This video also forgot about wheat straw and it's potential uses in construction as an excellent insulation and fire barrier. Look up straw bale construction for an idea.
10. "...across North America and Canada..."
    
    Hmm, did you walk to school or carry a lunch?
11. 11:50 if you look closely, you see the scientist smile after causing the small explosion... I bet its the same smile she had at 7 years old while on the swings
12. They said 1 bushel of wheat yields 42 loaves of white bread compared to 60 loaves of whole wheat bread. So the same amount of wheat produces 40% more loaves of whole wheat bread. Why is wheat bread more expensive than white bread?
13. fuck now im on a watchlist thanks for teaching millions to make bombs
14. Lol someone told this narrator to be super dramatic about everything
15. Mr Stoner: Hey duude, wouldn't it be crazy if like, the plants, like, grew in the air
    Dr Smokesalot: Broooooooo, you should totally frikin do that.
16. never heard of airoponics before then a guy named Richard Stoner comes out hahahahah oh man
17. An acre will feed how many people for an entire day?
18. Can't they do these documentaries without sounding like a cheesey cheap-hype infomercial!
19. China produces 20% of the world's wheat and 30% of the world's rice
    
    But still China is the largest food importer in the world.
    
    2015, China imported 50 million tons of grain and 80 million tons of soybean. China itself produced around 530 million tons of food
    
    which makes China consumes around 660 million tons of food, this is 35% of the world total
20. China produces 20% of the world's wheat and 30% of the world's rice
    
    For fruit like apples, pears and watermelon, China produces 70% of the world's total