Quinoa isn’t the only ancient crop falling prey to Western gluten-free appetites

I am always bemused with the sudden obsessions with some ancient grain, presented as the answer to all health issues. As consumers chase the grain of the moment, one wonders how this impacts those people who have been growing and consuming this over centuries? Here they were, “eating local” and minding their own business, and now the market explodes, prices spike and they have to rework their lives and diets. Here is an idea: there is no one single miraculous solution, if we look closer around us, chances are we will find healthy options here as well. After all, it is not as though , in the past people collapsed into globs of gluten because they did not have access to quinoa. What food choices did they make that could hold lessons for us? Distant vistas often look more alluring but what is close by might be just as beautiful, it merely requires us to refocus.