Wild About Rice

In our 3rd humanities class, Food for Thought we talked all about food and where it comes from, we made personal connections to our food and traced it back. We went on a field experience to Metropolis Coffee, where we learned about the origins of coffee. In class, we made a map and traced back different types of food to different ancient civilizations. For our action project, we were asked to pick an ingredient that correlates to a traditional family dish. I chose wild rice because my family is Canadian and lots of us have grown up in northern Wisconsin, it has been a key part of our family meals for generations. I researched and traced back wild rice, as well as interviewing my grandmother who is a famous family cook, about her fondness and experience with wild rice. In the end, I think it came out really well and I am very proud of my video and research. I think the hardest part  was making the presentation since it was a prezi and I am really bad at them. It was also hard to record as I kept messing up. In the end I am very proud of my project and I am happy I could research something personal.

My Script:

Hello, my name is wild rice I am a delicious grain that has been growing right here in North America for thousands of years. I also have been known to grow in China along with many other rice species, although I am not related to any Asian rice species. I have always been most popular in North America

I appear as a grass and I like to live in and near marshy and inland lake areas. I am most commonly found in the lakes and streams of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. There are actually 3 different species of wild rice grown in North America and 1 in China. The most common type is northern wild rice, which I am.

The others are Wild rice, which is native to around the St. Lawrence river and along the Gulf and Atlantic coast of America. Texas wild rice is native to central Texas. And Manchurian Wild rice which is native to China.

I was first harvested by The Ojibwe, as well as many other tribes when they discovered me while canoeing. I was most commonly eaten by dabbling ducks but when native American discovered me I was harvested, and all of me was put to use. Not only would they eat my grain but they took my stalks and made satchels, bags, and tools out of me. I was used in many traditional Ojibwe and native American dishes. I was traditionally cooked in deer broth or maple syrup. I was also made into sweets like rice cakes and rice puffs.

I was harvested by two people in a canoe one would row while the other would use a “knocker” which is a wooden pole that they would push the flowering bud on top so the rice would fall into the canoe. In many native American cultures, wild rice harvesting is a sacred & cultural event. The Ojibwe people refer to me as manoomin which means “harvesting berry” or “good berry.” I am known to be a sacred food believed to be a gift from the Great Spirit.

I was mostly used by native people but due to my nutritional value and taste. I gained popularity in the mid to late 20th century. Commercial harvesting started in the U.S. and Canada.

In 1950 James & Gerald Godward started the first wild rice paddy near Brainerd, Minnesota. They discovered that I did not need flowing water to grow. They only had a one-acre meadow that they dug dikes and constructed drainage ditches and flooded the tilled soil. They spread my seeds and the crops grew. They were the first to grow me not in the wild.

The U.S. and Canada produce much of the world’s wild rice In the U.S. California and Minnesota are my biggest producers and I am grown in paddies. In Canada, I am usually harvested from natural lakes in Saskatchewan.

In 1974 my cultivation began in Hungary on the rice fields on Szarvas. Hungarian wild rice is cultivated under its own company and ships around the world.

Today, I am used in many dishes in north America, and I am usually associated with Canadian or northern culture. I am still harvested in the traditional native American ways in some places. In the Moody family, I have been an important part of their family culture for generations. The Moody family is originally from Quebec, but many of them grew up in northern Wisconsin. Yvonne Moody grew up in northern Wisconsin and has been a cook her whole life. One of her favorite recipes to make is wild rice pilaf. According to Yvonne, “It is important to the family because it has been served at many dinners. The history goes back to the area where I grew up and enjoyed the wild rice harvested by the Native Americans in our area. The value is extremely high because of our fondness for it. Priceless.”

The Moody family gets their wild rice from North Bay Trading Company, company based out of Canada where they buy me in bulk.

Food for Thought AP1 CM from CM on Vimeo.

Sources:

"About Us." North Bay Trading Co., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017

"History." White Earth Wild Rice. White Earth Nation., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

lucy_sarson, "China Flag", Flickr, Web, 2011, 27 Apr. 2017

Nicholas Raymond, "Hungary Grunge Flag", Flickr, Web, 2012, 27 Apr. 2017

"Louisiana State Flag", Wikimedia  Wikimedia Foundation. n.d, Web, 27 Apr. 2017.

vejoyce, "Texas State Flag", Flickr, Web, 2011, 27 Apr. 2017

"Wild Rice." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Apr. 2017. Web. 27 Apr. 2017