Beautiful Barley

berkeleywellness.com

Barley, a member of the grass family, and a type of cereal grain, has had a monumental impact on the course of human history.  Native to western Asia and northern Africa, barley thrived in the Fertile Crescent at the time of the Neolithic Revolution, and was one of the first crops to be domesticated.  Even today, barley remains one of the most grown crops in the world.  Why, you ask, do we love barley so? One word: Beer.

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In a few steps and with some complicated chemistry, barley can be turned into delicious, delicious beer.  Evidence of beer brewing can be found as far back as 9,500 BCE, making it one of the oldest alcoholic beverages known to man.  And the early peoples love of this drink helped to shape the world as we know it.  Some argue that the written language was created to keep track of beer- some of the earliest examples of cuneiform are ledgers and receipts for beer.  The great pyramids of Giza were not built by slaves, but by paid workers, who were paid, of course, in beer.  Beer also sustained huge populations in areas where water was not safe to drink.

Our love of beer has not dwindled in recent years.  Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage on the planet, and the third most consumed beverage of all, beating out coffee, soda, milk, and juices. Today, the beer industry worldwide is worth over $400 billion.