Grain by Grain

"A compelling agricultural story skillfully told; environmentalists will eat it up." - Kirkus ReviewsWhen Bob Quinn was a kid, a stranger at a county fair gave him a few kernels of an unusual grain. Little did he know,that grain would change his life. Years later, after finishing a PhD in plant biochemistry and returning to his family’s farmin Montana, Bob started experimenting with organic wheat. In the beginning, his concern wasn’t health or theenvironment; he just wanted to make a decent living and some chance encounters led him to organics.But as demand for organics grew, so too did Bob’s experiments. He discovered that through time-tested practices likecover cropping and crop rotation, he could produce successful yields—without pesticides. Regenerative organic farmingallowed him to grow fruits and vegetables in cold, dry Montana, providing a source of local produce to families in hishometown. He even started producing his own renewable energy. And he learned that the grain he first tasted at the fair was actually a type of ancient wheat, one that was proven to lower inflammation rather than worsening it, as modernwheat does.Ultimately, Bob’s forays with organics turned into a multimillion dollar heirloom grain company, Kamut International.In Grain by Grain, Quinn and cowriter Liz Carlisle, author of Lentil Underground, show how his story can become the storyof American agriculture. We don’t have to accept stagnating rural communities, degraded soil, or poor health. Byfollowing Bob’s example, we can grow a healthy future, grain by grain.