- cereal crops: wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, sorghum, millet
- foundation of civilization’s caloric supply, storable for years
- grass family (species Poaceae), domesticated across every continent
- kernels contain endosperm (starch), germ (lipids, protein), bran (fiber)
- processing: milling, malting, fermentation (food)
- global staple: rice feeds Asia, wheat feeds Europe and the Middle East, corn feeds the Americas
- requires irrigation at scale, depletes soil without rotation with legume
- stored after harvest, traded as the oldest commodity