Photo: Lama Khatieb
In Amman, Jordan, teachers, dentists, and entrepreneurs sow wheat seeds in unused lots. They are participants in the Al Barakeh Wheat Project, which is reviving the world’s oldest baking culture by reconnecting Jordanians to their land and to one another. Jordan’s heritage durum wheat, once abundantly grown, was almost completely replaced by cheap imported white flour as the country urbanized. Co-founders Lama Khatieb and Rabee Zureikat developed the ‘wheat blessings’ project when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, reaping their first harvest in a rural village, guided by a local farmer. So as police distributed white pita bread to prevent hunger, they shared fresh wheat so their friends and families could bake their own nutritious loaves. The next growing season, they recruited nearby farmers to teach city residents wheat cultivation on empty city plots. This year, 165 families and four schools will pay a subscription fee to learn from the local farmers and buy a share of the harvest. As participants work side-by-side, Khatieb sees the communal ethic of older village life returning.
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