Horreos

The rise of agriculture... particularly of wheat bread was both a boon and a curse on humanity.  The development of granaries provided a means to store grain over the winter and times of need.  Bread provided a way to fill the stomachs of an ever increasing population... which insured the population explosion that has both decreased the quality of individual human lives and insured the destruction of the world's eco-system. 

Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), stated in the movie The Matrix, "Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply... and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus."

Spoken by a fictional charactor, but oh so true! We consume, consume, consume... We have insured not only our own demise, but that of nearly all species in the entire world.   The book, 'The Sixth Extinction,' by Elizabeth Kolbert, should be required reading by all. 

Back to bread.  A substitute for the nourishment that the human body actually needs. We are omnivores, not ruminants.

Human physiology is not designed to eat wheat, ruminant digestive systems are.  Despite this, humans are able to digest wheat well enough that centuries ago people realized that it was easier to cultivate and store wheat in quantity than continue foraging and hunting...  which would have limited population growth and kept humanity in balance with other species.

The aristocracy quickly recognized its usefulness as a way to grow a subservient population that could be employed to fight their wars and insure their continued rule.  Add to this the promise of an afterlife in a fictional 'Heaven' through dedication to the churches that the aristocracy control, and the assurance of burning for eternity in a carefully constructed, horrific 'Hell' for those who refuse to be subservient, and you have the perfect formula for controlling the masses of the modern world.

Mind control and low-cost sustenance is how the aristocracy historically kept the peasant population tame, ready, and willing to die for their masters.

Bread is mentioned in the lords prayer and is consumed as the 'body of Christ' during communion. Bread is actually what Marie Antoinette was referring to when she famously declared (in popular culture), 'Let them eat cake,' just prior to having her head lopped off... 

The spouse that monetarily supports a household is referred to as 'The Breadwinner.'  Beer is made from wheat and if you make enough 'dough' you can buy a lot of it.  

Bread has been an integral part of modern human 'civilization' since the dawn of agriculture... but I digress... this is about wheat, not the Camino, right?

Okay. Why all the fuss in a Camino post about wheat you ask?  In nearly every village, large or small, you will find Horreos, often many of them, dating back centuries.   These Horreos were used to store wheat and other grains.  There are thousands of them.  They are protected historical artifacts.  Reminders of the rise of agriculture constructed in stone. The alters from which the human population exploded. Granaries fueled wars and conquests.

Bread remains a primary staple in the human diet despite the many detrimental aspects of eating it.  It tastes good. It is used as the carrier for various fats and sugars, many of which are also detrimental to human health over the long term. It has even been promoted as a health food!

Kind of scary when you really think about it...

A typical Horreo

Horreos Explained

A bread delivery bag. Bread is delivered to many household's in Portugal and Spain each morning.

A bread delivery truck. When walking in the pre-dawn hours you quickly learn to jump out of the way as these trucks race about delivering bread lest you become a hood ornament while walking the narrow confines of an ancient village street