This picture looks like it is a typical Thanksgiving meal; but what does it have to do with grass? Maybe not much, or maybe more than one might think.
While helping my kids with some science homework, we naturally began discussing the science of grass. Of course, our lives seem to just revolve around grass in our home. Mowing it, growing it, making it dark green and healthy. So naturally I had to discuss grass.
My kids are currently learning about life and what life is and what life is made up of. We were discussing plants and animals and other organisms. We were looking at how life is made up of tiny microscopic cells. We discussed mitosis (cell division that results in two identical cells), and the phases of mitosis. We discussed that through mitosis, plants and animals develop and grow.
We then discussed the differences and similarities between plant cells and animal cells. Which led to the discussion of plants and how plants grow, reproduce, and survive.
As we began discussing plants such as flowers, trees, and yes, grasses; I asked the question, “Do humans eat grass?”
My daughter almost immediately said, “Yes! cows eat grass and then we eat the cows.”
After a quick chuckle at her “Dad” joke, I asked again, “Do we eat grass?”
They both said no, obviously referring to lawn and turf type grasses. While we technically can eat these grasses; they would do us very little good as we cannot digest them. That and turf type grasses might contain chemicals such as pesticides we would not want to ingest.
I asked them the question, “What about other types of grasses?” “Is wheat a grass, what about oats, or corn?”
While we typically do not think about wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, and rice as grasses; scientifically, or botanically they are all a type of grass. Now, we don’t normally eat the whole plant as is. While these grasses do contain a lot of nutrients, our bodies cannot digest it; meaning it will pass right through us leaving very little or no nutrients behind. Instead, we eat the seed, or the grain of the plant.
Grain is the harvested seed of grasses such as wheat, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, millet, and barley. Grain is milled into flour for baking or cooking; such as wheat, barely, oats, or rye for breads and other baked goods or cereals.
So what does grass have to do with Thanksgiving? How much grass do we eat at our Thanksgiving feast? Let’s think about all those bread rolls, the stuffing, all the pie crust, baked goods, sweet treats, and yes, even the corn we are eating along with that turkey and potatoes. Turns out we actually are eating a whole lot of grass; or at least a part of the grass plant.
Let’s not forget about all the sugar we use in those pies and sweet treats; sugarcane is also a type of grass. So when you sprinkle, or pour in my case, the brown sugar on those sweet potatoes, or when we add sugar to the deserts and cookies we are using a product that was once a grass.
So this Thanksgiving when the table is set and the food prepared, I will be thankful for grass. Not just because it is a main source of my lawn care income, but also for all that grass sitting on the table about to be feasted upon.
