Cereal Grass - What's in it for you!

Preface

The Wilderness Community Education Foundation (WCEF) was established to support the development of sustainable agriculture and communities. WCEF is a part of a family of such organizations, companies and individuals located near Lawrence, Kansas.

Lawrence lies in the heart of the Kansas River Valley. The modern use of wheat, barley, rye, and oat grasses as nutritional foods for humans began in this area over 50 years ago.

Here Charles Schnabel, George Kohler and other scientists generated an extensive body of research on cereal grasses and the nutrients they provide. The Kansas River Valley soils are still among the most fertile in the world, but the negative impact of misguided agricultural practices adopted over the past thirty-five years is increasingly apparent.

The WCEF family is in the process of making dramatic changes in the land use practices of the Kansas River Valley. People associated with WCEF-related organizations share a common vision for the future. This vision is becoming a reality for those companies and individuals who use no herbicides or pesticides in growing food crops. Land is being weaned away from chemical fertilizers, and instead is being enriched by time-proven crop rotations of red clover, alfalfa and other legumes. Grasslands on bluffs, pasture lands and greenbelts are beginning to be returned to the native plants of the Kansas prairie. Communities are being planned around commonly-owned green spaces, facilities and enterprises.

The New Green Revolution happening in the Kansas River Valley is part of a planetary change in human activity and awareness. Its roots are in our collective subconscious mind. Each person who makes life choices toward this new vision of sustainable community life shares in our progress.

Like the New Green Revolution, this book is a group effort. It is a report on the research carried out by medical doctors and health scientists throughout the world. We would like to particularly acknowledge the contribution of Dr. George Kohler. His important research in the area of cereal grass and green food nutrition spans five decades. His suggestions were very helpful to us in compiling this information.

Writing the book was also a collective effort. The major credit for reviewing the literature, compiling the great volume of research material, and writing the early drafts goes to Lea Steele. She received editorial support from many others.

Author and wheat grass enthusiast, David Ding, of Petaling Jaya, Malyasia helped make the presentation easier to follow for Asians and will translate the book into Chinese.

Medical anthropologist and author John Heinerman reviewed the manuscript, checking for consistency and adherence to scientific fact and conclusion. Colette Roth provided many of the charts and graphs and coordinated the publishing process. Steve Malone and Bob Hoffman reviewed the text and provided many helpful suggestions.

Jerry Thomas edited the final draft for continuity and readability, making the information more understandable. Finally, my own name appears on the cover as coordinator of this project.

Everyone involved now has a renewed understanding of the critical importance of "eating more green." We hope that those who read the information in this book will find it helpful in improving their own health and that of their loved ones.

Ron Seibold

Lawrence, Kansas

November 1, 1990

Dedicated to Charles F. Schnabel, Sr. and George O. Kohler, pioneers of the modern use of cereal grass.

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