POSTED 22 NOV 2000 is one of the largest crops in the world. It
can be grown in dry fields, or flooded fields like the paddies
shown here. A blacksmith in Senegal demonstrates one of the many
crafts that flourished after the dawn of agriculture. Mad cow
disease is causing a mini-panic in France. Europeans are stewing
about the discovery of genetically modified corn in their food
-- despite assurances that "Frankenfood" would not reach food
stores. Consumers aren't swallowing red delicious apples -- the
rot-proof fruit that, after years of intensive crop breeding,
tastes better'n, well, cardboard. With the market gone bust,
some farmers in Washington State, United States, are burning
their orchards. Thanksgiving has arrived in the United States,
and the gobbling of turkey is heard across the land. We don't
know about you, but here at The Why Files, we're feeling intense
food-related intellectual hunger pangs. Where, when and why did
people quit hunting and gathering wild food and start raising it
instead? As t