I: Rye
The many well-intentioned, but bad, ideas of Maria Rye.
Good morning. Today is primidi, the 1st of Messidor, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le seigle on this first day of the summer months, a grain for making bread.
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Rye and wheat are very similar, so why the distinction? Rye grows better in colder climates, and is higher in carbohydrates than wheat while being lower in everything else: calories, protein, fat, and gluten. This is why it's sometimes considered a "healthier" grain for bread, but also explains why wheat is the more dominant crop – there's always a bias toward more calorie-dense food unless climate prohibits it.
Maria Susan Rye was a controversial figure in her own day, a Victorian reformer who butted up against feminist issues, but ultimately built her legacy on emigration – some of it forced – helping young women, and then children, escape the horrible privations of impoverished London only to wind up in uncertain circumstances in Britain's colonies.
