Wheat is a type of grass that grows in big, golden fields all over the world. Each stalk has a cluster of seeds at the top called a head, and each head holds about 50 tiny seeds called kernels! When the wind blows across a wheat field, all the stalks wave back and forth together like a beautiful golden ocean. People have been growing wheat for about 10,000 years, making it one of the very first plants that humans ever learned to farm. Today, wheat is grown on more land than any other food crop on Earth!
When the wheat is ready, farmers harvest it with big machines called combines that cut the stalks and shake out all the tiny kernels. Then the kernels are ground up into a fine powder called flour. Flour is the main ingredient in so many of our favorite foods, like bread, pasta, crackers, pancakes, pizza dough, and even cake! One bushel of wheat, which is about the size of a big laundry basket, can make enough flour for 73 loaves of bread. That is a lot of sandwiches! Wheat comes in different types too, including hard wheat for bread and softer wheat for cookies and pastries.
