aloha!
	chet & beyond,
		      inspired by barleygreen info emailed on request
from chet day, i've fired up my cereal grass production line again.  all
those plastic trays haven't seen dirt in over a year, but i haven't
forgotten the daily rituals i once engaged in (soaking, rinsing,
spreading, misting, sunning, watering, stroking, cutting, juicing,
drinking, smiling...)
	i look forward to having a green forest by my sliding glass door,
but in the meantime, here's a little something i thought everyone might
find *stimulating*, typed in by yours truly.

+-=  A Staple For Thousands Of Years  =-+

Young barley leaves, I discovered, were relatively free from each of the
specific faults I found in other plants.

Among the plants I studied, only barley sprouts rapidly grow to young
leaves in temperatures below 15*C, when even fungi and bacteria cannot
grow.  Naturally, therefore, the young leaves of barley are cleaner than
vegetables grown in the summertime.  In addition, as the leaves are
smooth on the surface, any foreign matter on them can be readily washed
away.  Early harvest has another benefit in reducing the likelihood of
insect infestation, thus making organic growing of the plant feasible.

Our taste, as I have mentioned, is a tool which can be perverted.  Yet,
it is a vital tool which incorporates the wisdom of the centuries.  If
followed wisely, it can distinguish for us those foods which have proved
successful for man.

The foods we eat whould be required to be essentially free from
harshness, strong odors and pungent components.  For example, strong odor
is indicative of a high content of perfumery components.  These
components have more or less germicidal effects.  The flavors of
condiments consist solely of volatile components, most of which are
aldehydes and ester oils.  Summer vegetables and plants growing in the
hot southern countries have strong aromatic odors.  This is because these
aromatic components of the plants have their own power of preventing
decay and insect infestation.  The extremely strong aromatic odors of
mangoes, bananas and pineapples are also examples.

These germicidal components are unnecessary for our healthy bodies.
Rather they are very likely to act as toxic components which impart some
stimulus to our living cells.  It is true, however, that they could
awaken our inactivated organs by giving a slight stimulus.  For example,
when secretion of the gastric juice has gone wrong, it can be promoted by
a certain amount of spice in the diet.  I admit this efficacy, but still
insist that spicy foods should not be taken habitually in large
quantities.

It must be due to the absence of any pungent or other displeasing taste
that barley, rice and other cereals have been selected as main staples in
the daily diet.  This is the wisdom of mankind, and I believe that it is
more scientific than modern science.

Thus, I concluded that among the variety of green vegetables available to
man, cereal grasses stood at the top of the list.  They are highest in
the active ingredients that are vital to the proper nutrition of the
living body; they are free of germicidal and fungal contamination; and
they have been selected by mankind for centuries as staple foods.

I must clearly delineate here that I am speaking of the leaves of these
cereal grasses, rather than their kernels, which, I must admit, have
clearly been the preference of man in his historical eating habits.

I strongly suspect that the reason man has not favored the grasses of
cereals is because of the high content of cellulose fiber which forms the
structure of these tall grasses.  Leaf-eating animals are supplied with a
set of teeth especially designed for grinding these cellulose fibers to
release the nutrients within.  The human tooth arrangement can handle all
vegetables, but is not really equipped to break down large quantities of
leafy material.  However, a comparison of the contents of the leaves of
barley against the grain of other plants, as shown in Table 5,
demonstrates that there would be a clear nutritional advantage to the
grass.

quoted from _green_barley_essence_
				  by
				    yoshihide hagiwara
							(pages 28 & 29)
	_