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Overfelt Gardens

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Overfelt Gardens are a 33-acre (13 ha) park in San Jose, California , located in the Alum Rock district of East San Jose .

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64-435: The land for the park was donated by Mildred Overfelt in 1959, in memory of her parents, William and Mary Overfelt, early San Jose pioneers that started grain and dairy farms in the 1850s. Mildred specified the park was intended "to provide a place of rest, relaxation, aesthetic, and other enjoyment for the people of San Jose" and no sports fields or games were to be constructed. It was opened in 1966. Early features added to

128-650: A grain elevator or silo , to be sold later. Grain stores need to be constructed to protect the grain from damage by pests such as seed-eating birds and rodents . When the cereal is ready to be distributed, it is sold to a manufacturing facility that first removes the outer layers of the grain for subsequent milling for flour or other processing steps, to produce foods such as flour, oatmeal , or pearl barley . In developing countries, processing may be traditional, in artisanal workshops, as with tortilla production in Central America. Most cereals can be processed in

192-444: A balanced diet. Many legumes, however, are deficient in the essential amino acid methionine , which grains contain. Thus, a combination of legumes with grains forms a well-balanced diet for vegetarians. Such combinations include dal (lentils) with rice by South Indians and Bengalis , beans with maize tortillas , tofu with rice, and peanut butter with wholegrain wheat bread (as sandwiches) in several other cultures, including

256-401: A food trade imbalance and thus food security . Speculation , as well as other compounding production and supply factors leading up to the 2007–2008 financial crises , created rapid inflation of grain prices during the 2007–2008 world food price crisis . Other disruptions, such as climate change or war related changes to supply or transportation can create further food insecurity; for example

320-580: A much smaller scale. In the 1920s and 1930s, farmers in Australia and Canada reacted against the pricing power of the large grain-handling and shipping companies. Their governments created the Australian Wheat Board and the Canadian Wheat Board as monopsony marketing boards , buying all the wheat in those countries for export. Together, those two boards controlled a large percentage of

384-497: A reflection pond emptying into a small stream, past cultural points of interest and around three percolation ponds. The current park map shows these trails as thick white lines. The southeast section of the park includes the Chinese Cultural Garden , commemorating Sun Yat-sen , Chiang Kai-shek , Confucius , and Chinese culture in general, including a large black stone, mined and shipped from Taiwan . Overfelt Gardens

448-408: A role. Among the best-known cereals are maize, rice , wheat, barley, sorghum , millet , oat, rye and triticale . Some other grains are colloquially called cereals, even though they are not grasses; these pseudocereals include buckwheat , quinoa , and amaranth . All cereal crops are cultivated in a similar way. Most are annual , so after sowing they are harvested just once. An exception

512-523: A square mile) or more for little or no fee. This moved grain growing, and hence trading, to a much more massive scale. Huge grain elevators were built to take in farmers' produce and move it out via the railways to port. Transportation costs were a major concern for farmers in remote regions, however, and any technology that allowed the easier movement of grain was of great assistance; meanwhile, farmers in Europe struggled to remain competitive while operating on

576-536: A sugar . In the 20th century, industrial processes developed around chemically altering the grain, to be used for other processes. In particular, maize can be altered to produce food additives, such as corn starch and high-fructose corn syrup . Cereal production has a substantial impact on the environment. Tillage can lead to soil erosion and increased runoff. Irrigation consumes large quantities of water; its extraction from lakes, rivers, or aquifers may have multiple environmental effects , such as lowering

640-439: A surplus of it, but rather to produce everything his family needs and become self-sufficient . Only in places and eras where production is geared towards producing a surplus for trade ( commercial agriculture ), does a major grain trade become possible. In the ancient world, grain regularly flowed from the hinterlands to the cores of great empires: maize in ancient Mexico , rice in ancient China , and wheat and barley in

704-500: A variety of ways. Rice processing , for instance, can create whole-grain or polished rice, or rice flour. Removal of the germ increases the longevity of grain in storage. Some grains can be malted , a process of activating enzymes in the seed to cause sprouting that turns the complex starches into sugars before drying. These sugars can be extracted for industrial uses and further processing, such as for making industrial alcohol , beer , whisky , or rice wine , or sold directly as

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768-470: Is as old as agricultural settlement, identified in many of the early cultures that adopted sedentary farming. Major societal changes have been directly connected to the grain trade, such as the fall of the Roman Empire . From the early modern period onward, grain trade has been an important part of colonial expansion and international power dynamics. The geopolitical dominance of countries like Australia,

832-457: Is located on McKee Road in East San Jose . Independence High School lies just to its north. This Santa Clara County, California -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This San Jose, California -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain . Cereals are

896-614: Is no frost. Most cereals are planted in tilled soils , which reduces weeds and breaks up the surface of a field. Most cereals need regular water in the early part of their life cycle. Rice is commonly grown in flooded fields, though some strains are grown on dry land. Other warm climate cereals, such as sorghum, are adapted to arid conditions. Cool-season cereals are grown mainly in temperate zones. These cereals often have both winter varieties for autumn sowing, winter dormancy, and early summer harvesting, and spring varieties planted in spring and harvested in late summer. Winter varieties have

960-611: Is not required. Rice can be grown as a ratoon crop; and other researchers are exploring perennial cool-season cereals, such as kernza , being developed in the US. Fertilizer and pesticide usage may be reduced in some polycultures , growing several crops in a single field at the same time. Fossil fuel-based nitrogen fertilizer usage can be reduced by intercropping cereals with legumes which fix nitrogen . Greenhouse gas emissions may be cut further by more efficient irrigation or by water harvesting methods like contour trenching that reduce

1024-427: Is often used to make injera . It can be eaten as a warm breakfast cereal like farina with a chocolate or nutty flavor. The table shows the annual production of cereals in 1961, 1980, 2000, 2010, and 2019/2020. (millions of metric tons) Cereals are the most traded commodities by quantity in 2021, with wheat, maize, and rice the main cereals involved. The Americas and Europe are the largest exporters, and Asia

1088-510: Is rice, which although usually treated as an annual can survive as a perennial , producing a ratoon crop. Cereals adapted to a temperate climate , such as barley , oats , rye , spelt , triticale , and wheat , are called cool-season cereals. Those preferring a tropical climate , such as millet and sorghum , are called warm-season cereals. Cool-season cereals, especially rye, followed by barley, are hardy; they grow best in fairly cool weather, and stop growing, depending on variety, when

1152-432: Is the largest importer. The largest exporter of maize is the US, while India is the largest exporter of rice. China is the largest importer of maize and of rice. Many other countries trade cereals, both as exporters and as importers. Cereals are traded as futures on world commodity markets , helping to mitigate the risks of changes in price for example, if harvests fail. Grain trade The grain trade refers to

1216-502: Is the main ingredient of bread and pasta . Maize flour has been important in Mesoamerica since ancient times, with foods such as Mexican tortillas and tamales . Rye flour is a constituent of bread in central and northern Europe, while rice flour is common in Asia. A cereal grain consists of starchy endosperm , germ , and bran . Wholemeal flour contains all of these; white flour

1280-402: Is without some or all of the germ or bran. Because cereals have a high starch content, they are often used to make industrial alcohol and alcoholic drinks by fermentation . For instance, beer is produced by brewing and fermenting starch , mainly from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley. Rice wines such as Japanese sake are brewed in Asia; a fermented rice and honey wine

1344-454: The Puccinia spp.) and powdery mildews . Fusarium head blight, caused by Fusarium graminearum , is a significant limitation on a wide variety of cereals. Other pressures include pest insects and wildlife like rodents and deer. In conventional agriculture, some farmers will apply fungicides or pesticides Annual cereals die when they have come to seed, and dry up. Harvesting begins once

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1408-468: The "organic" movements of the early 21st century, but there is a tradeoff in yield-per-plant, putting pressure on resource-poor areas as food crops are replaced with cash crops . Cereals are grasses, in the Poaceae family, that produce edible grains . A cereal grain is botanically a caryopsis , a fruit where the seed coat is fused with the pericarp . Grasses have stems that are hollow except at

1472-481: The 2007–2008 world food price crisis . More recently, the dominance of Ukraine and Russia in grain markets such as wheat meant that the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused increased fears of a global food crises in 2022 . Changes to agriculture caused by climate change are expected to have cascading effects on global grain markets. The grain trade is probably nearly as old as grain growing , going back

1536-890: The Green Revolution , a technological change funded by development organizations. The strategies developed by the Green Revolution, including mechanized tilling, monoculture , nitrogen fertilizers, and breeding of new strains of seeds. These innovations focused on fending off starvation and increasing yield-per-plant, and were very successful in raising overall yields of cereal grains, but paid less attention to nutritional quality. These modern high-yield cereal crops tend to have low-quality proteins , with essential amino acid deficiencies, are high in carbohydrates , and lack balanced essential fatty acids , vitamins , minerals and other quality factors. So-called ancient grains and heirloom varieties have seen an increase in popularity with

1600-492: The Neolithic Revolution (around 9,500 BCE). Wherever there is a scarcity of land (e.g. cities), people must bring in food from outside to sustain themselves, either by force or by trade. However, many farmers throughout history (and today) have operated at the subsistence level , meaning they produce for household needs and have little leftover to trade. The goal for such farmers is not to specialize in one crop and grow

1664-438: The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 disrupted Ukrainian and Russian wheat supplies causing a global food price crisis in 2022 that affected countries heavily dependent on wheat flour. Cereals are the world's largest crops by tonnage of grain produced. Three cereals, maize, wheat, and rice, together accounted for 89% of all cereal production worldwide in 2012, and 43% of the global supply of food energy in 2009, while

1728-779: The World Trade Organization , or attempted to negotiate them away though the Cairns Group , at the same time the wheat boards have been reformed and many tariffs have been greatly reduced, leading to a further globalization of the industry. For example, in 2008 Mexico was required by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to remove its tariffs on US and Canadian maize . Similarly, protections in other contexts, such as guaranteed prices for grains in India, have been an important lifeline for small farmers in

1792-516: The ancient Near East . With this came improving technologies for storing and transporting grains; the Hebrew Bible makes frequent mention of ancient Egypt 's massive grain silos . Merchant shipping was important for the carriage of grain in the classical period (and continues to be so). A Roman merchant ship could carry a cargo of grain the length of the Mediterranean for the cost of moving

1856-400: The nodes and narrow alternate leaves borne in two ranks. The lower part of each leaf encloses the stem, forming a leaf-sheath. The leaf grows from the base of the blade, an adaptation that protects the growing meristem from grazing animals. The flowers are usually hermaphroditic , with the exception of maize , and mainly anemophilous or wind-pollinated, although insects occasionally play

1920-497: The steamship shifted trade from local to more international patterns. During this time, debate over tariffs and free trade in grain was fierce. Poor industrial workers relied on cheap bread for sustenance, but farmers wanted their government to create a higher local price to protect them from cheap foreign imports , resulting in legislation such as Britain's Corn Laws . As Britain and other European countries industrialized and urbanized, they became net importers of grain from

1984-623: The water table and cause salination of aquifers. Fertilizer production contributes to global warming , and its use can lead to pollution and eutrophication of waterways. Arable farming uses large amounts of fossil fuel , releasing greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. Pesticide usage can cause harm to wildlife, such as to bees . Some of the impacts of growing cereals can be mitigated by changing production practices. Tillage can be reduced by no-till farming , such as by direct drilling of cereal seeds, or by developing and planting perennial crop varieties so that annual tilling

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2048-535: The Americas. For feeding animals , the amount of crude protein measured in grains is expressed as grain crude protein concentration. Cereals constitute the world's largest commodities by tonnage, whether measured by production or by international trade. Several major producers of cereals dominate the market. Because of the scale of the trade, some countries have become reliant on imports, thus cereals pricing or availability can have outsized impacts on countries with

2112-605: The Hittite Sun goddess of Arinna , the Canaanite Lahmu and the Roman Janus . Complex civilizations arose where cereal agriculture created a surplus, allowing for part of the harvest to be appropriated from farmers, allowing power to be concentrated in cities. During the second half of the 20th century, there was a significant increase in the production of high-yield cereal crops worldwide, especially wheat and rice, due to

2176-544: The United States, Canada and the Soviet Union during the 20th century was connected with their status as grain surplus countries. More recently, international commodity markets have been an important part of the dynamics of food systems and grain pricing . Speculation , as well as other compounding production and supply factors leading up to the 2007–2008 financial crises , created rapid inflation of grain prices during

2240-485: The advantage of using water when it is plentiful, and permitting a second crop after the early harvest. They flower only in spring as they require vernalization , exposure to cold for a specific period, fixed genetically. Spring crops grow when it is warmer but less rainy, so they may need irrigation. Cereal strains are bred for consistency and resilience to the local environmental conditions. The greatest constraints on yield are plant diseases , especially rusts (mostly

2304-556: The autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres . Cereals were domesticated in the Neolithic , some 8,000 years ago. Wheat and barley were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent ; rice

2368-498: The cereal supply for other countries. Cereals provide food eaten directly as whole grains , usually cooked, or they are ground to flour and made into bread , porridge , and other products. Cereals have a high starch content, enabling them to be fermented into alcoholic drinks such as beer . Cereal farming has a substantial environmental impact , and is often produced in high-intensity monocultures . The environmental harms can be mitigated by sustainable practices which reduce

2432-452: The city of Rome was considered to be of the utmost strategic importance to Roman generals and politicians. In Europe, with the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of feudalism , many farmers were reduced to a subsistence level, producing only enough to fulfill their obligation to their lord and the Church , with little for themselves, and even less for trading. The little that was traded

2496-514: The development of new crops. Price volatility greatly effects countries that are dependent on grain imports, such as certain countries in the MENA region . "Price volatility is a life-and-death issue for many people around the world" warned ICTSD Senior Fellow Sergio Marchi. "Trade policies need to incentivize investment in developing country agriculture, so that poor farmers can build resistance to future price shocks". Two major price volatility crises in

2560-433: The early 21st century, during the 2007–2008 world food price crisis and 2022 food crises , have had major negative effects on grain prices globally. Climate change is expected to create major agricultural failures , that will continue to create volatile food price markets especially for bulk goods like grains. Protection against international market prices has been an important part of how some countries have responded to

2624-429: The face of ever larger trucks . Modern issues affecting the grain trade include food security concerns, the increasing use of biofuels , the controversy over how to properly store and separate genetically modified and organic crops, the local food movement, the desire of developing countries to achieve market access in industrialized economies, climate change and drought shifting agricultural patterns, and

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2688-464: The famous Chinese philosopher Confucius overlooks a shallow reflection pond that, when full, spills into a narrow streambed. Also, the California Wild area is a 1.6-acre (0.65 ha) wildlife sanctuary composed of a dirt trail winding around a hill covered in native trees, brush, wildflowers and grasses. A paved walking trail meanders around the remainder of the park over gently sloping hills, around

2752-603: The grain trade was divided between a few state-owned and privately owned giants. The state giants were Exportkhleb of the Soviet Union, the Canadian Wheat Board, the Australian Wheat Board, the Australian Barley Board , and so on. The largest private companies, known as the "big five", were Cargill , Continental , Louis Dreyfus , Bunge , and Andre, an older European company not to be confused with

2816-787: The impact on soil and improve biodiversity, such as no-till farming and intercropping . Wheat, barley, rye , and oats were gathered and eaten in the Fertile Crescent during the early Neolithic . Cereal grains 19,000 years old have been found at the Ohalo II site in Israel , with charred remnants of wild wheat and barley. During the same period, farmers in China began to farm rice and millet, using human-made floods and fires as part of their cultivation regimen. The use of soil conditioners , including manure , fish, compost and ashes , appears to have begun early, and developed independently in areas of

2880-963: The large trading companies. By contrast, in 1980, the US government attempted to use its food power to punish the Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan with an embargo on grain exports . This was seen as a failure in terms of foreign policy (the Soviets made up the deficit on the international market), and negatively impacted American farmers. Since the Second World War, the trend in North America has been toward further consolidation of already vast farms. Transportation infrastructure has also promoted more economies of scale . Railways have switched from coal to diesel fuel, and introduced hopper car to carry more mass with less effort. The old wooden grain elevators have been replaced by massive concrete inland terminals, and rail transportation has retreated in

2944-457: The local and international trade in cereals such as wheat , barley , maize , and rice , and other food grains . Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agricultural products. Healthy grain supply and trade is important to many societies, providing a caloric base for most food systems as well as important role in animal feed for animal agriculture . The grain trade

3008-449: The more recent André Maggi Group from Brazil. In 1972, the Soviet Union's wheat crop failed. To prevent shortages in their country, Soviet authorities were able to buy most of the surplus American harvest through private companies without the knowledge of the United States government. This drove up prices across the world, and was dubbed the " great grain robbery " by critics, leading to greater public attention being paid by Americans to

3072-509: The need for irrigation, and by breeding new crop varieties. Some cereals such as rice require little preparation before human consumption. For example, to make plain cooked rice , raw milled rice is washed and boiled. Foods such as porridge and muesli may be made largely of whole cereals, especially oats, whereas commercial breakfast cereals such as granola may be highly processed and combined with sugars, oils , and other products. Cereals can be ground to make flour. Wheat flour

3136-474: The park include picnic areas, restrooms, a fountain dedicated to Mildred, and a "fragrance garden" comprising many aromatic plants. Later paths were added around the rest of the park and its three lakes , with a section designated as a California Native plant and Wildlife Sanctuary. Three large, interconnected percolation ponds rise and shrink throughout the year, providing habitat for birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and fish year-round. A large statue of

3200-481: The plant can be allowed to decompose, or collected as straw ; this can be used for animal bedding, mulch, and a growing medium for mushrooms. It is used in crafts such as building with cob or straw-bale construction . If cereals are not completely dry when harvested, such as when the weather is rainy, the stored grain will be spoilt by mould fungi such as Aspergillus and Penicillium . This can be prevented by drying it artificially. It may then be stored in

3264-459: The plants and seeds are dry enough. Harvesting in mechanized agricultural systems is by combine harvester , a machine which drives across the field in a single pass in which it cuts the stalks and then threshes and winnows the grain. In traditional agricultural systems, mostly in the Global South , harvesting may be by hand, using tools such as scythes and grain cradles . Leftover parts of

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3328-472: The production of oats and rye has drastically fallen from their 1960s levels. Other cereals not included in the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization statistics include wild rice , which is grown in small amounts in North America, and teff , an ancient grain that is a staple in Ethiopia . Teff is grown in sub-Saharan Africa as a grass primarily for feeding horses. It is high in fiber and protein. Its flour

3392-467: The removal of the bran and germ, all that remains is the starchy endosperm. In some developing countries , cereals constitute a majority of daily sustenance. In developed countries , cereal consumption is moderate and varied but still substantial, primarily in the form of refined and processed grains. Some cereals are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine , obliging vegetarian cultures to combine their diet of cereal grains with legumes to obtain

3456-551: The same amount 15 miles by land. The large cities of the time could not exist without the supplies delivered. For example, in the first three centuries AD, Rome consumed about 150,000 tons of Egyptian grain each year. During the classical age, the unification of China and the pacification of the Mediterranean basin by the Roman Empire created vast regional markets in commodities at either end of Eurasia . The grain supply to

3520-404: The temperature goes above around 30 °C or 85 °F. Warm-season cereals, in contrast, require hot weather and cannot tolerate frost. Cool-season cereals can be grown in highlands in the tropics, where they sometimes deliver several crops in a single year. In the tropics, warm-season cereals can be grown at any time of the year. In temperate zones, these cereals can only be grown when there

3584-580: The various breadbaskets of the world. In many parts of Europe, as serfdom was abolished, great estates were accompanied by many inefficient smallholdings , but in the newly colonized regions massive operations were available to not only great nobles, but also to the average farmer. In the United States and Canada, the Homestead Act and the Dominion Lands Act allowed pioneers on the western plains to gain tracts of 160 acres (0.65 km ) (1/4 of

3648-638: The volitility of market prices. For example, farmers in the European Union , United States and Japan are protected by agricultural subsidies . The European Union's programs are organized under the Common Agricultural Policy . The agricultural policy of the United States is demonstrated through the "farm bill" , while rice production in Japan is also protected and subsidized. Farmers in other countries has attempted to have these policies disallowed by

3712-639: The world including Mesopotamia , the Nile Valley , and Eastern Asia. Cereals that became modern barley and wheat were domesticated some 8,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. Millets and rice were domesticated in East Asia, while sorghum and other millets were domesticated in sub-Saharan West Africa, primarily as feed for livestock. Maize arose from a single domestication in Mesoamerica about 9,000 years ago. In these agricultural regions, religion

3776-454: The world's grain trade in the mid-20th century. Additionally, farmers' cooperatives such the wheat pools became a popular alternative to the major grain companies. At the same time in the Soviet Union and soon after in China , disastrous collectivization programs effectively turned the world's largest farming nations into net importers of grain. By the second half of the 20th century,

3840-401: The world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods . They include rice , wheat , rye , oats , barley , millet , and maize . Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat and quinoa , are pseudocereals . Most cereals are annuals , producing one crop from each planting, though rice is sometimes grown as a perennial . Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in

3904-465: Was domesticated in East Asia, and sorghum and millet were domesticated in West Africa. Maize was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. In the 20th century, cereal productivity was greatly increased by the Green Revolution . This increase in production has accompanied a growing international trade , with some countries producing large portions of

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3968-670: Was made in China some 9,000 years ago. Cereals and their related byproducts such as hay are routinely fed to farm animals . Common cereals as animal food include maize, barley, wheat, and oats. Moist grains may be treated chemically or made into silage ; mechanically flattened or crimped, and kept in airtight storage until used; or stored dry with a moisture content of less than 14%. Commercially, grains are often combined with other materials and formed into feed pellets. As whole grains , cereals provide carbohydrates , polyunsaturated fats , protein , vitamins , and minerals . When processed by

4032-476: Was moved around locally at regular fairs . A massive expansion in the grain trade occurred when Europeans were able to bring millions of square kilometers of new land under cultivation in the Americas , Russia, and Australia, an expansion starting in the fifteenth and lasting into the twentieth century. In addition, the consolidation of farmland in Britain and Eastern Europe , and the development of railways and

4096-490: Was often shaped by the divinity associated with the grain and harvests. In the Mesopotamian creation myth, an era of civilization is inaugurated by the grain goddess Ashnan . The Roman goddess Ceres presided over agriculture, grain crops, fertility, and motherhood; the term cereal is derived from Latin cerealis , "of grain", originally meaning "of [the goddess] Ceres". Several gods of antiquity combined agriculture and war:

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