Growing a wheat with benefits

I am writing this month’s column from Tokyo.

The day prior to submitting the column, I had a long lunch with one of Japan’s largest flour milling companies. They use about seven million tonnes of wheat annually, most of it imported from Australia.

They were enthusiastic and excited about the discussion on our Australian wheat experiments in Australia.

For them, the relationship was much more about market access than about price. It was about having a convenient story to tell their customers.

This was not about commodity trading or an opportunistic shipment.

This first commercial shipment was about the future of Japanese flour milling and a more transparent wider health agenda.

In the three months since product release, more than 40 food companies have already agreed supply agreements with the Australian grain innovator and research team who have been driving this.

It is creating a broader and deeper increasing discussion about “food as medicine”.

NSW-based The George Institute for Global Health is one of a number of research organisations driving the view of prevention as opposed to treatment of major diseases.

It makes a lot of sense; try to prevent rather than try to cure.

Research published in the Lancet Journal in 2017 showed one-fifth of global deaths are diet-related to poor eating patterns. That is more than smoking.

An optimised, whole-of-diet approach before incidence of many chronic diseases, such as type-two diabetes and bowel cancer, can be re-directed by tailored dietary advice.

The key diet plans ‘targeted’ nutrition management.

Rather than issuing medical prescriptions, they let doctors guide patients to specific food and dietary prescriptions. Food as medicine fills in these prescriptions.

From a farmer’s perspective, I think this is a great development for food.

We have always understood our role is to supply food to feed people. This wheat variety is different because it can provide significantly better health outcomes in a consumer’s diet.

Apart from being a pretty cool thing to be part of, the health outcomes are enormous.

It takes years to then bio-improve and release the outcomes. From this first meeting in Japan, it is clear the HAW project is great test case for farmers.

The health benefits outlined create clear outcomes for wider development of the flour business and ongoing development of wheat products.

Researchers published in the Lancet Journal in 2017 showed one-fifth of global deaths are diet-related to poor eating patterns.

For farmers, it is great that we are growing a wheat with benefits.

TRIED AND TESTED: Dr Tristan Coram, director of science and Australian Grain Technologies, samples instant noodles made from Wimmera High Amylose Wheat, HAW.

Matthews, D. (2023). From AgLife column series. The Weekly Advertiser (AgLife), various issues.