The Wheat Foods Council, Parker, Colo., brought an interactive exhibit to New York City last month to educate consumers about wheat from farm to table. A live wheat field, about one-quarter of an acre in size, was on display in New York City's South Street Seaport. The Wheat Foods Council's “Urban Wheat Field Experience” also featured a full-size combine, functioning mill, bread-baking station and nutrition lab.

Experts in the areas of wheat agriculture, milling, baking and nutrition guided visitors through each phase of the grain's life cycle, including bakers who conducted bread-baking demonstrations and explained flour's transformation into the foods eaten by millions of Americans.

To create the field, nearly half a million wheat kernels were planted in 300 4-ft. by 4-ft. pallets. Interlocking pallets created the wheat field with a pedestrian path running through it.

Visitors were able to view wheat throughout different stages of its life cycle. Wheat spends 90 percent of its life cycle green as opposed to golden.	Interlocking pallets created a wheat field at the intersection of Water Street and Fulton Street in New York City.
More than 500 loaves of fresh-baked bread and thousands of cookies were consumed during the three-day event.	New Yorkers aren’t accustomed to seeing a combine in the South Street Seaport area, where nearly 8,000 people shared in an urban wheat field experience.