Or, phase one of the Daily Food Guide Pyramid Project. Or, the I Am So Grateful For The Whole Foods Bulk Department Project — because these are ultimately the type of  ’school’ supplies we would prefer to buy.

Actually, let’s just call it the God Bless The Vacuum Cleaner Project.

The setup: We separated out a variety of grains into their region of origin. They were all either hulled, pearled, rolled, and ground…hmm, I’m sensing a new diagram coming on :)

Native American — amaranth, quinoa Native Asian — buckwheat, millet, rice Native Near Eastern — barley, wheat Native European — rye, oat Native African — sorghum and tef (neither of which we had, but shouldn’t be too hard to find with a little more looking)

We set out four favorite star wars figures, one for each region, and engaged in battles over and under dunes of semolina and china black rice. The precious grains were bought, sold and traded..kernel by kernel. An amusement park was erected and eventually bulldozed..all the while, we touched and felt and tasted the unique textures and variations.

We chattered about random trivia: Buckwheat is not actually a grain. There are over 30,000 different varieties of wheat. Wild rice is our only native North American grain. Whole grains are more delicious and “All of them, whether tender or hard, thick skinned or thin, die when they are peeled…even as you and I” (M.F.K Fisher).

We chose one recipe to make out of our grains. Pretzels.

And finally, the diagrams, a work in progress.

Soon, we’ll hope to move up the pyramid chart and plan to save the sweets for last (something extra special to look forward to).