Who knew that flour could be so interesting and entertaining! There is something here for everyone: American history in the northwest, sports and the creation of Wheaties, glamour and style in creating Betty Crocker, marketing and creating Cheerios, music and the creation of radio jingles, and much more! A delightful little film you will love! Thank you, youtube!
My late father was an executive with Pillsbury for 30 years. He was with them from 1950 to 1980. Between high school and college I worked in the consumer correspondence dept and used to sign the outgoing letters as Ann Pillsbury - no relation. Loved the job and the people. My dad was dedicated to the company and helped build it in his own way for 30 years. Now Pillsbury is part of a conglomerate that includes its former competitor General Mills -- both great companies. The Pillsbury family were very nice people - a great place to work back in the day.
Pillsbury acquired and ruined a number of great companies such as Burger King, Godfather's Pizza, Totino's among others. Too much cash and too much greed got the best of them, and helped speed up the destruction of our economy.
@@dianealden9293 cool story! It’s still crazy seeing that both pillsbury and General Mills were both huge in their own rights and for them to merge was like as big of a deal as when Mobil merged with Exxon!
As a Farmer, Historian, and Minnesotan this documentary gives me chills and excitement. I grew up as a child in the Minneapolis area, my mothers side of the family was rich with history in the Minneapolis heritage of the Mills and industry. My fathers step father was a farmer, and for a time was a laborer in the Minneapolis industrial economy while maintaining the family farm in Miltona, Minnesota. I can feel my deep roots and heritage to the Milling in Minneapolis and the wheat farmers of the surrounding communities. I especially felt connected to the philanthropy aspect being highlighted. The milling families set a great precedent, one both my grandfathers instilled on me. Investing into you environment and investing into others was never considered optional, even though we came from poor roots. Hard work paid off for my great grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents. They all share into the communities, and now my turn is here and I work towards the same. I strongly support education beyond the school, encouraging kids to learn about our heritage. Children who grow up knowing their families heritage, feeling their roots build better, and stronger communities.
WHY DOESN'T TPT SHOW "THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS"?? YA KNOW WHEN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LET 180 BUILDINGS GET LOOTED AND BURNED, WITH 1500 OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED???
It is fascinating to hear how the flour industry got started in Minnesota. As someone from Rochester and tapped into the history of our city, the beginnings of your Flour industry is a carbon copy of ours. Coincidently, your rise to Flour Power is the reason for our fall. Thankfully we moved on to other industries, but it is fun to think of the possibilities if Minnesota wasn't so fertile for growing cereal grains and had the rivers to create the mills.
I only turned this on for some background while doing other things, but I kept returning to watch the video. I know about Kellogg and Battle Creek, but nothing about flour. As a home baker and a person who loved puffed rice as a child, and watches the little kids eat Cheerios in church, I learned a lot I didn't know about this aspect of food in America.
As a Minnesota native I was so excited when I saw this video. I was born in 1945 and remember all the advertising and jingles. I grew up on Cream of Wheat in the winter months. I always knew Minneasotans were a hardy stock, my mom lived to be 93. Thanks PBS for this wonderful History lesson.
WHY DOESN'T TPT SHOW "THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS"?? YA KNOW WHEN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LET 180 BUILDINGS GET LOOTED AND BURNED, WITH 1500 OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED???
WHY DOESN'T TPT SHOW "THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS"?? YA KNOW WHEN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LET 180 BUILDINGS GET LOOTED AND BURNED, WITH 1500 OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED???
I am now 71 and was a kid back in the 1950's. I grew up with Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes ( Kellogg's of course...LOL..!! ), Cream of Wheat, and the rest. I would eat Cheerios and Rice Krispies right out of the box, like a snack. I also grew up with white sandwich bread but later switched over to whole wheat sandwich bread. This was a very interesting and historical video...thanks..!!
This was like reading a history novel. Each chapter is a fascinating segment of time and just as engaging as the last. Thanks MN PBS for this history lesson on the origins of the Twin Cities.
My mother took a clerical job at GeneraI Mills during World War II. When she left that job she went down the street to Pillsbury, but they didn't hire her. She jokingly speculated that they suspected her of being a corporate spy. I find it an interesting coincidence that my grandmother's maiden name was Mueller, and she spent the bulk of her life in Minneapolis. I've gained a new appreciation for the old console radio that sat in my grandparent's' parlor on Fremont Avenue North in Minneapolis. Perhaps they listened to those first commercial jingles on that same radio.
I worked for the Pillsbury company for years making a variety of different types of biscuits & cinnamon rolls. All it was was flour, water and flavoring. They made billions of dollars from those 3 items. Local 33
Excellent, Worked in Springfield Illinois for Yrs Until the Mill Closed some 15 20yrs now maybe ..Not to many people Looking for a" Stream tender " 👊...Have a Good Week !..
@@SteveWormuth The 3 items is all you Needed, No Trans fat in Flour 🤡.. The Government added Enrichments to the mix .. I'd know, Added them Every day...
Yes and no. This is when corners started to be cut, but the process was gradual and not overnight. The industry slowly grew more processed as wheat quality declined. You can’t grow the same crop in the same land forever
@@ultralance7470 I can think of places that have been growing rice in an area for 5,000 years who'd say you can grow the same crop on the same land for a very long time.
It's worth noting that "processed foods" are literally just food stuffs that have been processed to increase their edibility/bioavailability/taste/etc. Tortillas, for example, are processed food. Nixtamalization (an ancient mesoamerican process for corn, used for hominy, tortillas, and many other things) is processed food. Applesauce is processed food. Alcohol, cured/smoked meats - even traditional, pickling, sprouts of any bean, pretzels, ceviche, etc. all are some levels of "processed". Processed food isn't the Boogeyman crunchy moms like to pretend. Some products are questionable, for sure, but avoiding "processed" food is about as educated as avoiding cooked food.
Not from Minnesota, but I found this fascinating. I think the most interesting aspect of the documentary is the current standing of these companies. I believe they will have to change to meet the nutritional needs of America today, but. These companies provided our country and the world with economical food at a time when most of the country was still doing daily heavy labor. For many of us, that has changed. But for other areas of the world, not so much. I truly hope they will find a way to provide nutritional food to those of us with a more sedentary lifestyle while allowing the developing world an economical and filling food source. Thank you for this production.
im just wondering why on earth they are getting rid of so much food farming we all need it is our history and always will be need it for the next generations wheat started banking/money
There are different categories of documentaries, as there are, categories of opinions. As a historical documentary this one is informative, thought provoking and entertaining - comment by an international documentary maker.
@@hairstoyou7248That is your opinion. That is why there are different types of documentaries as this kind gentleman pointed out. Don't try pushing your opinion on others as fact.
ABSOLUTELY SUPERB!!!!! Great educational viewing for a Saturday morning. And it blesses my soul to see the story told through its complexities! The storytelling is directly opposite of ‘white flour’/industrial carbohydrates. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
So many comments here. Indeed this is a very informative documentary chronicling (and praising) the efforts of a few men to make a fortune while finding what seemed to be a simple solution to the plight of farmers and farming in the USA. The topic of this video is also a key element in our descent as a nation into the current epidemic of obesity. It would be wonderful to have a documentary that guides us through all of this and see what some of these great thinkers (documentarians and those they interview) feel is a possible solution to all that this has caused and is still causing in most American's daily life, and the lack of high quality, affordable fresh food, and our out of control healthcare system which is financially bankrupting the 99% while, just like the progress described in this video, it grossly increases the wealth of the 1% who own the companies.
I don’t understand your comment. Affordable food is bad? Personally, I shop at Walmart as believe it or not. It’s the nicest grocery store that I have in my area. I buy plenty of fruits and vegetables. It is true. I do not buy meat there, because I don’t like their quality. But honestly, there’s nothing wrong with affordable food. It’s a matter of bad choices and bad government advice, telling people to eat carbohydrates over anything else.
I'm from Ohio and it's cool to watch this regional thing and how well it's told. I definitely have a more appreciation of the twin cities apart from the juicy lucy. Thanks!!
This is a meaningful reminder on how we came to be in this Golden Age of … podcasting, data sharing, progress. “scientia potentia est" is a Latin aphorism meaning "knowledge itself is power",
While General Mills turned a consistent profit during the Great Depression (46:10), wheat farmers were suffering. From $1.40/bushel in 1929, wheat dropped to $0.44/buahel in 1932. Moreover, though there was a good bit of solid historical information in this video essay, its self-congratulatory flavor might lead one to suspect that it was produced with significant support from wheat processors. It also seems to throw a rather wide loop in origin stories for various products, organizations, and business and social trends. One might call it a puffed piece. Or not. Maybe it's just me.
Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent still-motion photography pictures 📷. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator/special guest speakers were describing.. More modern-day milling made a big difference in production/output of wheat products. Commercially the farmer 🚜/manufacturer/advertisers. Did financially well/keeping the consumer healthier & well fed -!😋
The transformation of crop was major turning in canada most in western canada fluor mills start building up many province.cargill was one push transform crop for food production bigger scale.the railroad change a lot too.thank pbs video.😊
I am Minnesota native born in 1947, even tho I was born and raised on a dairy farm I never really understood the History of this part of Minnesota, I knew about WCCO and it ties to flour but this is very insightful, thanks
Haven’t seen any other groups presenting quality programming promoting a different perspective than PBS. Just because it isn’t YOUR perspective doesn’t mean it is “propaganda.” It’s a perspective. Make your own documentary and air your own perspective. It’s called freedom of speech.
What is going on in your head to make you think other people perceive a documentary about flour to be propaganda? 😂 I know PBS is mainly left wing nonsense, that’s why it’s hilarious he thinks PBS is ‘quality’
@@wadewilson6628 they are literally supported, in the vast majority, by private and corporate donations. There is no 'state' involvement of any controlling interest at all in PBS. This is all publicly available information.
I love that J Steele did the voice over … the Steele family being so integral to the twin cities music community. So much glorious here for twin cities/Minnesotans. The Sheldon Theater is glorious to this day - just saw Marc Cohn play there in Red Wing. It’s impossible to express how important and gorgeous the Mississippi is to all things MN.
My grandma is from up in Minnesota, going toi need to show her this. I'm sure she grew up eating A lil bit of everything those companies made. No wonder the old gal is so damn sturdy, former teacher and former nun, love her to bits and I do love Minnesota too even if I am a born Florida man! XD
This was certainly enjoyable to watch with a good script and fine geaphics and other Imaging. however it has one immense weakness it left out the story of the legendary W. K. Kellogg of Battle Creek Michigan. He made something called Corn Flakes which you might have heard of. it was first promoted as a health food and digestive Curative. boy, what a company he established. he also had a great effect on the American breakfast.
I know it's unbelievable but Kellogg created corn flakes as a way to stop masterbation. About a decade ago his descendant a female running the company wanted to make a healthier cereal by removing some of the toxic ingredients, GMOs, preservatives, etc. many that are not in the European Kelloggs cereals. The shareholders raged with anger. " Why mess with a good thing?" ($$$$$$)
Very, very interesting! Was the limestone that was found in Red Wing used as stones in the mills? A really fantastic documentary. I grew up in Rochester, went to college in St. Paul & lived in Red Wing. I now live in San Diego & am quite homesick for MN.
Learning how to cook with flour was life changing for me I feel like it makes so many things and has so much reach in American and European cooking. Bread is fun 😊
Are you aware that there is no such person as Betty crocker? They came up with a name I believe from holding a contest just as Joan Crawford got her name ( Lucille Lesuer) I suppose they believed Betty crocker sounded like a woman who bakes. I used to work at a restaurant where we served calamari. After bringing the entre people complained asking me what kind of fish it was. I told them it was squid. I could see the look of disgust on their faces. The Italian word for squid because it sounds prettier. Same with canola oil (RAPEseed)
Also known as Emmer wheat, Khapli is an ancient variety of wheat that has been cultivated since the time of the Indus Valley Civilization. Introduction of wheat in the Aryan Vedic period (1500-800 B.C.) may have been due to their contacts with non-Aryans, who were known to be using wheat as revealed by the excavations of the sites as old as 7300 B.C.
It wasn’t the downhill of health, these mills did feed many many people however, corporations always think lining their pockets and everyone else is on their own. Nothing has changed.
And unfortunately, propaganda and corruption. As a kiwi, I used to listen to BBC broadcasts for years. A bit after the turn of this century, BBC became suspect. A look at BBC promoters who have been prosecuted for gross misbehaviour reinforces this.
It really is worth pointing out that water mills first came into use in the 12th century for a variety of purposes, grain being one of them. Minnesota was just using a very old technology.
Using the water to power massive ELECTRIC machines and a STEEL mill (AND separating the germ and bran!) was not old technology, though. In comparison to the thousands of years that people have been milling flour, the new technology is still new, in fact. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, bro, 12th century wheat would have rotted before it made across the pond. The world's breadbasket really was built in Minnesota.
@@NotTheEx At around the 5 minute mark they are not talking about ELECTRIC machines and a STEEL mill. They are talking about a water wheel driven - flour mill. And since the first commercial well documented water wheel - flour mill complex in france is from the the beginning of the 2nd century until about the end of the 3rd century. With an estimated capacity of almost 10 000 pounds per day. Not trying to take the achievements away from Minnesota, but claiming to be the cradled of water wheel driven flour mill when all that was done was to upsize and improve an invention (with the current manufacturing technology) that has been used in commercial setting for at least 1400 years is just not a small error. around 11:30 in the video at least they acknowledge adapting european technology separating the flour to different fractions. (Thanks Italy and france) I guess the focus of the video is on telling the impact Minnesota had on the rest of the world (rest of USA), and it just gets a bit to iffy for the 95% of the world not living in USA. And wheat has an annual growth, and since Europe and middle east have been eating bread daily for a couple of thousand years at least. The technology to preserve it for at least one year had been around way before even the vikings visited Vinland for the first time. And as for wheat production the last 30+ years USA produces around 10% of the wheat of the world (USA and Non US countries included). And even in the 1860 it was around 20%. Claiming to be the world's basket of anything when you have 10-20% production share is also a bit over the top, if facts and things like that counts. In one of my family's properties we have documents from 1789 detailing their rights of use of the local water grain mill, and what fees they have to pay. Not a large scale commercial mill where the owners profited from from the farmers, it was more like a co-op, but still commercial in the sense that the milled flour not needed by the farm was sold together with other farms surplus to areas where grain farming was not possible.
Why is there nothing on Cargill. I believe you missed a huge part of Nothwest development, even now they wield huge power. Must say I really appreciate the show very well done and interesting.
I volunteer at The Norlands in Livermore Maine, Cads home site. Its a beautiful late 1860s-early 1870s living history museum. The current 1868 mansion sits where his childhood home once was.
Some years ago, we had an explosion at the local sugar refinery. The sugar dust in the air exploded after a spark. It was horrible and I knew at least one of the people who perished.
The first half hour has interesting historical information on how entrepreneurs and capitalists harness nature so as to create or expand a market. Environazis will hate this portion and lament the loss of the natural beauty of the St Anthony Falls. The show does not present any technical/engineering details on how the power of the falling water was able to power so many lumber and flour mills. Oddly they also left out the collapsed tunnel episode that threatened to greatly reduce the available water flow. Minneapolis was a Liberal stronghold for decades before Progressive Dims took over and consequently the editorial staff was unable to be neutral for the entire program. Instead of vilifying the far more sedentary modern lifestyle carbohydrates were vilified instead. The producers felt it necessary to claim carbs are responsible for huge medical expenditures due to obesity and diabetes. Yes they are but there are factors that impact the implied truth of this statement. A fairer and much more truthful statement is that genetic risks AND consuming too many carbs for a sedentary lifestyle may lead to obesity and diabetes. Carbs are NOT the risk to everyone that the anti-carb statement implied. Overall I do recommend the show.
Seeing as how our health problems really started in earnest a mere 40 years ago, there's more to this story than "wheat is killing us". Monsanto and Roundup, with their destruction of our soils, and the idiotic spraying of that nasty shit on the very grain kernels we now eat, is a big part of our problems, IMHO.
People who travel to France speak of ‘soft wheat’ as opposed to hard wheat (winter wheat) Soft wheat is tastier, apparently. Hard wheat on the Canadian prairies ‘no mo’ all canola/yuk. Fresh ground wheat kernels cooked on a Ukrainian xmas eve with fresh honey. You can live on it. The two items found stored in the pyramids in perfect condition after thousands of years. 🙂you’re welcome. (🇨🇦 shoppers.)
I frequently deliver motor oil to St. Paul,When there I love to walk from St. Paul to Minneapolis walking up university ave love both those towns and River that runs thru it. Don’t care for the winters although they’re milder than my first visit 24 years ago.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Who knew that flour could be so interesting and entertaining! There is something here for everyone: American history in the northwest, sports and the creation of Wheaties, glamour and style in creating Betty Crocker, marketing and creating Cheerios, music and the creation of radio jingles, and much more! A delightful little film you will love! Thank you, youtube!
Thank viewers just like you! We support PBS through donations. UA-cam didn’t create or film this content - PBS did. 😊
My late father was an executive with Pillsbury for 30 years. He was with them from 1950 to 1980. Between high school and college I worked in the consumer correspondence dept and used to sign the outgoing letters as Ann Pillsbury - no relation. Loved the job and the people. My dad was dedicated to the company and helped build it in his own way for 30 years. Now Pillsbury is part of a conglomerate that includes its former competitor General Mills -- both great companies. The Pillsbury family were very nice people - a great place to work back in the day.
Pillsbury acquired and ruined a number of great companies such as Burger King, Godfather's Pizza, Totino's among others. Too much cash and too much greed got the best of them, and helped speed up the destruction of our economy.
@@dianealden9293 cool story! It’s still crazy seeing that both pillsbury and General Mills were both huge in their own rights and for them to merge was like as big of a deal as when Mobil merged with Exxon!
As a Farmer, Historian, and Minnesotan this documentary gives me chills and excitement. I grew up as a child in the Minneapolis area, my mothers side of the family was rich with history in the Minneapolis heritage of the Mills and industry. My fathers step father was a farmer, and for a time was a laborer in the Minneapolis industrial economy while maintaining the family farm in Miltona, Minnesota. I can feel my deep roots and heritage to the Milling in Minneapolis and the wheat farmers of the surrounding communities. I especially felt connected to the philanthropy aspect being highlighted. The milling families set a great precedent, one both my grandfathers instilled on me. Investing into you environment and investing into others was never considered optional, even though we came from poor roots. Hard work paid off for my great grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents. They all share into the communities, and now my turn is here and I work towards the same. I strongly support education beyond the school, encouraging kids to learn about our heritage. Children who grow up knowing their families heritage, feeling their roots build better, and stronger communities.
WHY DOESN'T TPT SHOW "THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS"?? YA KNOW WHEN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LET 180 BUILDINGS GET LOOTED AND BURNED, WITH 1500 OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED???
It is fascinating to hear how the flour industry got started in Minnesota. As someone from Rochester and tapped into the history of our city, the beginnings of your Flour industry is a carbon copy of ours. Coincidently, your rise to Flour Power is the reason for our fall. Thankfully we moved on to other industries, but it is fun to think of the possibilities if Minnesota wasn't so fertile for growing cereal grains and had the rivers to create the mills.
I grew up in Rochester also.
I only turned this on for some background while doing other things, but I kept returning to watch the video. I know about Kellogg and Battle Creek, but nothing about flour. As a home baker and a person who loved puffed rice as a child, and watches the little kids eat Cheerios in church, I learned a lot I didn't know about this aspect of food in America.
As a Minnesota native I was so excited when I saw this video. I was born in 1945 and remember all the advertising and jingles. I grew up on Cream of Wheat in the winter months. I always knew Minneasotans were a hardy stock, my mom lived to be 93. Thanks PBS for this wonderful History lesson.
WHY DOESN'T TPT SHOW "THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS"?? YA KNOW WHEN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LET 180 BUILDINGS GET LOOTED AND BURNED, WITH 1500 OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED???
That feeling when you already know you’ll enjoy it before watching… Thank you, TPT!
WHY DOESN'T TPT SHOW "THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS"?? YA KNOW WHEN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LET 180 BUILDINGS GET LOOTED AND BURNED, WITH 1500 OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED???
Well done, Twin Cities PBS. This is one of the finest documentaries I've watched this year.
Yes!
PBS rules so hard. Every state has a dope PBS.
PBS has some great documentaries but, a lot of their stories lean so far peft. They may as well be a paid advertiser for the Democrat Party.
When they're not in the propaganda business
Especially my PBS in Boston
Really glad my tax dollar helps liberals listen to one sided reporting.
What do you mean Dope PBS?
PBS puts out the best documentaries I've ever seen. Thank you for uploading this one.
What a cool story about our beautiful state! Thanks PBS
What a great Documentary! I learnt so much about the history of the twin cities, I wish this was taught in every Minnesota High School!
*learned. There, now you learned even more.
It is shown in almost every school district in Minnesota
Cotswolds in uk twins with places in France a lot!!
@@adamfrbs9259 Maybe Felipe is British...if so, learnt is correct ;-)
@civlyzed British guy named Felipe? Lol. That's like a white American named T'Shawn.
This is one of the best history programs i have ever seen or heard
I am now 71 and was a kid back in the 1950's. I grew up with Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes ( Kellogg's of course...LOL..!! ), Cream of Wheat, and the rest. I would eat Cheerios and Rice Krispies right out of the box, like a snack. I also grew up with white sandwich bread but later switched over to whole wheat sandwich bread.
This was a very interesting and historical video...thanks..!!
This was like reading a history novel. Each chapter is a fascinating segment of time and just as engaging as the last. Thanks MN PBS for this history lesson on the origins of the Twin Cities.
My mother took a clerical job at GeneraI Mills during World War II. When she left that job she went down the street to Pillsbury, but they didn't hire her. She jokingly speculated that they suspected her of being a corporate spy.
I find it an interesting coincidence that my grandmother's maiden name was Mueller, and she spent the bulk of her life in Minneapolis.
I've gained a new appreciation for the old console radio that sat in my grandparent's' parlor on Fremont Avenue North in Minneapolis. Perhaps they listened to those first commercial jingles on that same radio.
What an interesting and educational success about milled flour and how it reshaped our country as we see it today thank you
As one of the last flour millers in Minneapolis, this makes me very happy. Hooray for wheat!
Excellent documentary. So interesting, I loved it. Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Well Done
It is wonderful that this documentary covered all the facets and results of this growth and also the destruction, which will always go hand in hand.
Growth does not ensure destruction...when it is done sustainably.very simple
@@isabellavalencia8026 since when has America *ever* done sustainable growth???
@@suzbone we have been doing it for years
Need more of these educational videos on the history of advancement!. Love seeing real, quality documentaries. .
I worked for the Pillsbury company for years making a variety of different types of biscuits & cinnamon rolls. All it was was flour, water and flavoring. They made billions of dollars from those 3 items. Local 33
Excellent, Worked in Springfield Illinois for Yrs Until the Mill Closed some 15 20yrs now maybe ..Not to many people Looking for a" Stream tender " 👊...Have a Good Week !..
If that were true then what are all the other ingredients on the label...ur forgetting preservatives, coloring etc
Pillsbury was the LAST to eliminate transfats which is believed to cause more heart attacks.
@@SteveWormuth The 3 items is all you Needed, No Trans fat in Flour 🤡.. The Government added Enrichments to the mix .. I'd know, Added them Every day...
@@christinanielsen1917 Uff da!
Love seeing real, quality documentaries. 👏
Funny enough I had this playing in the background whilst eating breakfast...it caught my attention then I started it all over. Thanks for uploading.
Thank you very much for this impressive documentary video.
Salute from Egypt 🇪🇬 with love and respect.
❤from a Minnesota grandma
I highly recommend the Mill City Museum to literally everyone ever. Such a cool place.
Need more of these educational videos on the history of advancement!
Great documentary. Straight up informative and interesting. No political correctness, no hidden agenda - as is the case with most documentaries now.
Excellent video...Thanks for sharing!
I didn't know flour dust was explosive! It's absolutely amazing how much Pillsbury for example developed other spin off companies and brands!
Dust of any kind can explode if the particles are fine enough and mixed with the right concentration of air (oxygen).
Almost any kind of dust is explosive. The first diesel engines ran on coal dust
The Robinhood flour mill exploded in Davenport Iowa in the early 70s.
@@coleheister7390 wow!
My father-in-law during WWII flew near a ship carrying flour on 🔥 after an explosion.
So this is like the beginning of processed foods
@benr7294 agreed! Also, the obesity epidemic
Yes and no. This is when corners started to be cut, but the process was gradual and not overnight. The industry slowly grew more processed as wheat quality declined. You can’t grow the same crop in the same land forever
@@ultralance7470 I can think of places that have been growing rice in an area for 5,000 years who'd say you can grow the same crop on the same land for a very long time.
It's worth noting that "processed foods" are literally just food stuffs that have been processed to increase their edibility/bioavailability/taste/etc. Tortillas, for example, are processed food. Nixtamalization (an ancient mesoamerican process for corn, used for hominy, tortillas, and many other things) is processed food. Applesauce is processed food. Alcohol, cured/smoked meats - even traditional, pickling, sprouts of any bean, pretzels, ceviche, etc. all are some levels of "processed".
Processed food isn't the Boogeyman crunchy moms like to pretend. Some products are questionable, for sure, but avoiding "processed" food is about as educated as avoiding cooked food.
@@agxryt actually, to be technical as you seem to need to be. Cooking is processing food.
Not from Minnesota, but I found this fascinating. I think the most interesting aspect of the documentary is the current standing of these companies. I believe they will have to change to meet the nutritional needs of America today, but. These companies provided our country and the world with economical food at a time when most of the country was still doing daily heavy labor. For many of us, that has changed. But for other areas of the world, not so much. I truly hope they will find a way to provide nutritional food to those of us with a more sedentary lifestyle while allowing the developing world an economical and filling food source. Thank you for this production.
im just wondering why on earth they are getting rid of so much food farming we all need it is our history and always will be need it for the next generations wheat started banking/money
this is one exceptional documentary.
Very educational and entertaining. Thanks Twin Cities PBS.
What a superbly done documentary.
Really a well eloquent documentary.Well worth watching and learning tool.
Excellent presentation learning the origins of some of my childhood favorite foods. Viewing from Texas
I still have a red and white checkered Betty Crocker cookbook. still use it sometimes too!
Need more of these educational videos on the history of advancement!. Very educational and entertaining. Thanks Twin Cities PBS..
This is an amazing documentary chock full of incredibly interesting information.
Very interesting and jammed with the right amount of tasty, nutritious detail! Many thanks for posting.
There are different categories of documentaries, as there are, categories of opinions. As a historical documentary this one is informative, thought provoking and entertaining - comment by an international documentary maker.
A documentary shouldn't be agenda driven. It should be educational.
@@hairstoyou7248That is your opinion. That is why there are different types of documentaries as this kind gentleman pointed out. Don't try pushing your opinion on others as fact.
ABSOLUTELY SUPERB!!!!! Great educational viewing for a Saturday morning. And it blesses my soul to see the story told through its complexities! The storytelling is directly opposite of ‘white flour’/industrial carbohydrates. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thank you for incredible video!
Nice documentary. So well done .
The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
I got to meet a Pillsbury back in the 1970s. Classy woman. Totally down to earth. A pleasant presence.
Pillsbury doughgirl?
So many comments here. Indeed this is a very informative documentary chronicling (and praising) the efforts of a few men to make a fortune while finding what seemed to be a simple solution to the plight of farmers and farming in the USA.
The topic of this video is also a key element in our descent as a nation into the current epidemic of obesity. It would be wonderful to have a documentary that guides us through all of this and see what some of these great thinkers (documentarians and those they interview) feel is a possible solution to all that this has caused and is still causing in most American's daily life, and the lack of high quality, affordable fresh food, and our out of control healthcare system which is financially bankrupting the 99% while, just like the progress described in this video, it grossly increases the wealth of the 1% who own the companies.
I don’t understand your comment. Affordable food is bad? Personally, I shop at Walmart as believe it or not. It’s the nicest grocery store that I have in my area. I buy plenty of fruits and vegetables. It is true. I do not buy meat there, because I don’t like their quality. But honestly, there’s nothing wrong with affordable food. It’s a matter of bad choices and bad government advice, telling people to eat carbohydrates over anything else.
I'm from Ohio and it's cool to watch this regional thing and how well it's told. I definitely have a more appreciation of the twin cities apart from the juicy lucy. Thanks!!
Delightful documentary.
i love Americans 🚬🤠 they are the greatest ☝️📈✅
This is a meaningful reminder on how we came to be in this Golden Age of … podcasting, data sharing, progress.
“scientia potentia est" is a Latin aphorism meaning "knowledge itself is power",
While General Mills turned a consistent profit during the Great Depression (46:10), wheat farmers were suffering. From $1.40/bushel in 1929, wheat dropped to $0.44/buahel in 1932. Moreover, though there was a good bit of solid historical information in this video essay, its self-congratulatory flavor might lead one to suspect that it was produced with significant support from wheat processors. It also seems to throw a rather wide loop in origin stories for various products, organizations, and business and social trends. One might call it a puffed piece. Or not. Maybe it's just me.
You should either commit to a position or accurately portray your level of confidence: back and forthing sounds inept and unclear.
@@elideaver Is this an issue you'd like to discuss in depth? Or are you simply prejudiced against the wishy-washy? Because I could go either way.
Even so they missed out Kellogg
I was certainly waiting for a tie in to the dust bowl vs those vast fields of wheat. At least a mention if it was a factor or not for the regiopn.
@@desundial It's a bleached brand of history.
Great stuff, thanks folks.
Well done PBS. Ty.
A great education here into some of the greatest food products the world has ever known!
Fascinating, all of it. Two thumbs up. Didn't know a thing about flour an hour ago, lol.
Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent still-motion photography pictures 📷. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator/special guest speakers were describing.. More modern-day milling made a big difference in production/output of wheat products. Commercially the farmer 🚜/manufacturer/advertisers. Did financially well/keeping the consumer healthier & well fed -!😋
In the 70's, I loved my Betty Crocker cake bake set as a child.
Great documentary!
Learn something new everyday! Thank you!
I always wondered about the origins of Pillsbury. Cool video.
So interesting... love these shows about how stuff was and how things started
The transformation of crop was major turning in canada most in western canada fluor mills start building up many province.cargill was one push transform crop for food production bigger scale.the railroad change a lot too.thank pbs video.😊
I am Minnesota native born in 1947, even tho I was born and raised on a dairy farm I never really understood the History of this part of Minnesota, I knew about WCCO and it ties to flour but this is very insightful, thanks
Haven’t seen any other groups presenting quality programming promoting a different perspective than PBS. Just because it isn’t YOUR perspective doesn’t mean it is “propaganda.” It’s a perspective. Make your own documentary and air your own perspective. It’s called freedom of speech.
What is going on in your head to make you think other people perceive a documentary about flour to be propaganda? 😂
I know PBS is mainly left wing nonsense, that’s why it’s hilarious he thinks PBS is ‘quality’
Don't fool yourself. PBS creates a lot of propaganda. They are PAID to do it.
@@wadewilson6628 they are literally supported, in the vast majority, by private and corporate donations. There is no 'state' involvement of any controlling interest at all in PBS.
This is all publicly available information.
Lol 😂. It’s still PBS . Propaganda Broadcasting Systems
It's only propaganda if you're not smart enough to differentiate intent.....
If only high school history class was as interesting as this documentary
I learned more about history from PBS and Ken Burns than any teacher or text book 😊
This is like one big long commercial for companies that still exist today. How nice.
I love that J Steele did the voice over … the Steele family being so integral to the twin cities music community.
So much glorious here for twin cities/Minnesotans. The Sheldon Theater is glorious to this day - just saw Marc Cohn play there in Red Wing. It’s impossible to express how important and gorgeous the Mississippi is to all things MN.
❤
My grandma is from up in Minnesota, going toi need to show her this. I'm sure she grew up eating A lil bit of everything those companies made. No wonder the old gal is so damn sturdy, former teacher and former nun, love her to bits and I do love Minnesota too even if I am a born Florida man! XD
This was certainly enjoyable to watch with a good script and fine geaphics and other Imaging. however it has one immense weakness it left out the story of the legendary W. K. Kellogg of Battle Creek Michigan. He made something called Corn Flakes which you might have heard of. it was first promoted as a health food and digestive Curative. boy, what a company he established. he also had a great effect on the American breakfast.
I know it's unbelievable but Kellogg created corn flakes as a way to stop masterbation. About a decade ago his descendant a female running the company wanted to make a healthier cereal by removing some of the toxic ingredients, GMOs, preservatives, etc. many that are not in the European Kelloggs cereals. The shareholders raged with anger. " Why mess with a good thing?" ($$$$$$)
Very, very interesting! Was the limestone that was found in Red Wing used as stones in the mills? A really fantastic documentary. I grew up in Rochester, went to college in St. Paul & lived in Red Wing. I now live in San Diego & am quite homesick for MN.
Learning how to cook with flour was life changing for me I feel like it makes so many things and has so much reach in American and European cooking. Bread is fun 😊
Nothing better on a cold winter morning than a hot bowl of cream of wheat w butter a little sugar.
AAAMAAAZING HISTORY ! 😍
Thanks for the information. I did not know several of these facts.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I find PBS to be very informative and honest
I have a cousin who won a Betty Crocker award/contest in her high school. This was about 55 yrs ago😊what an interesting documentary.
Are you aware that there is no such person as Betty crocker? They came up with a name I believe from holding a contest just as Joan Crawford got her name ( Lucille Lesuer) I suppose they believed Betty crocker sounded like a woman who bakes. I used to work at a restaurant where we served calamari. After bringing the entre people complained asking me what kind of fish it was. I told them it was squid. I could see the look of disgust on their faces. The Italian word for squid because it sounds prettier. Same with canola oil (RAPEseed)
Also known as Emmer wheat, Khapli is an ancient variety of wheat that has been cultivated since the time of the Indus Valley Civilization. Introduction of wheat in the Aryan Vedic period (1500-800 B.C.) may have been due to their contacts with non-Aryans, who were known to be using wheat as revealed by the excavations of the sites as old as 7300 B.C.
It wasn’t the downhill of health, these mills did feed many many people however, corporations always think lining their pockets and everyone else is on their own. Nothing has changed.
Nice to see my Alma Matter & former professor in this documentary.
Quite an interesting documentary! Unexpectedly so.
Quite so.
You all Rock PBS.💜💛
I wish we had a PBS in the UK.
You do. It’s auntie. BBC. PBS gets government money. Hence the name public broadcasting.
@@SoyyodavidZzxyBBC is general entertainment. PBS is for education
And unfortunately, propaganda and corruption. As a kiwi, I used to listen to BBC broadcasts for years. A bit after the turn of this century, BBC became suspect. A look at BBC promoters who have been prosecuted for gross misbehaviour reinforces this.
You do have Masterpiece and that's a great show too!
25:29 damn. Hits insanely close to home that. And that was how long ago?
It really is worth pointing out that water mills first came into use in the 12th century for a variety of purposes, grain being one of them. Minnesota was just using a very old technology.
Using the water to power massive ELECTRIC machines and a STEEL mill (AND separating the germ and bran!) was not old technology, though. In comparison to the thousands of years that people have been milling flour, the new technology is still new, in fact. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, bro, 12th century wheat would have rotted before it made across the pond. The world's breadbasket really was built in Minnesota.
I noticed same thing. Perhaps what they intended to convey, was that milling was new to that part of the world.
@@NotTheEx At around the 5 minute mark they are not talking about ELECTRIC machines and a STEEL mill. They are talking about a water wheel driven - flour mill.
And since the first commercial well documented water wheel - flour mill complex in france is from the the beginning of the 2nd century until about the end of the 3rd century. With an estimated capacity of almost 10 000 pounds per day.
Not trying to take the achievements away from Minnesota, but claiming to be the cradled of water wheel driven flour mill when all that was done was to upsize and improve an invention (with the current manufacturing technology) that has been used in commercial setting for at least 1400 years is just not a small error.
around 11:30 in the video at least they acknowledge adapting european technology separating the flour to different fractions. (Thanks Italy and france)
I guess the focus of the video is on telling the impact Minnesota had on the rest of the world (rest of USA), and it just gets a bit to iffy for the 95% of the world not living in USA.
And wheat has an annual growth, and since Europe and middle east have been eating bread daily for a couple of thousand years at least. The technology to preserve it for at least one year had been around way before even the vikings visited Vinland for the first time.
And as for wheat production the last 30+ years USA produces around 10% of the wheat of the world (USA and Non US countries included). And even in the 1860 it was around 20%. Claiming to be the world's basket of anything when you have 10-20% production share is also a bit over the top, if facts and things like that counts.
In one of my family's properties we have documents from 1789 detailing their rights of use of the local water grain mill, and what fees they have to pay. Not a large scale commercial mill where the owners profited from from the farmers, it was more like a co-op, but still commercial in the sense that the milled flour not needed by the farm was sold together with other farms surplus to areas where grain farming was not possible.
Why is there nothing on Cargill. I believe you missed a huge part of Nothwest development, even now they wield huge power. Must say I really appreciate the show very well done and interesting.
Cargill is mentioned in the first 5 mins of the video.
I visited there in 2018 and most of the large mills are gone, I get it, but the riverfront must have been something back in the day.
I volunteer at The Norlands in Livermore Maine, Cads home site. Its a beautiful late 1860s-early 1870s living history museum. The current 1868 mansion sits where his childhood home once was.
Thanks for the info
Don't know if what was presented is accurate, but it sounds interesting.
Some years ago, we had an explosion at the local sugar refinery. The sugar dust in the air exploded after a spark. It was horrible and I knew at least one of the people who perished.
The first half hour has interesting historical information on how entrepreneurs and capitalists harness nature so as to create or expand a market. Environazis will hate this portion and lament the loss of the natural beauty of the St Anthony Falls.
The show does not present any technical/engineering details on how the power of the falling water was able to power so many lumber and flour mills. Oddly they also left out the collapsed tunnel episode that threatened to greatly reduce the available water flow.
Minneapolis was a Liberal stronghold for decades before Progressive Dims took over and consequently the editorial staff was unable to be neutral for the entire program. Instead of vilifying the far more sedentary modern lifestyle carbohydrates were vilified instead. The producers felt it necessary to claim carbs are responsible for huge medical expenditures due to obesity and diabetes. Yes they are but there are factors that impact the implied truth of this statement. A fairer and much more truthful statement is that genetic risks AND consuming too many carbs for a sedentary lifestyle may lead to obesity and diabetes. Carbs are NOT the risk to everyone that the anti-carb statement implied.
Overall I do recommend the show.
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Seeing as how our health problems really started in earnest a mere 40 years ago, there's more to this story than "wheat is killing us". Monsanto and Roundup, with their destruction of our soils, and the idiotic spraying of that nasty shit on the very grain kernels we now eat, is a big part of our problems, IMHO.
People who travel to France speak of ‘soft wheat’ as opposed to hard wheat (winter wheat) Soft wheat is tastier, apparently. Hard wheat on the Canadian prairies ‘no mo’ all canola/yuk.
Fresh ground wheat kernels cooked on a Ukrainian xmas eve with fresh honey. You can live on it. The two items found stored in the pyramids in perfect condition after thousands of years. 🙂you’re welcome. (🇨🇦 shoppers.)
Both "soft" and "hard" wheat varieties are still produced.
12:26 really?? REALLY? And here I was thinking this was a documentary about flour 🤦🏼♂️ It just gets- old
Minnesotans have this weird attitude where it's everyone else that's bad. Not them..
Narrator’s voice is soothing.
Thank you Rose Totino for all the pizza that you made for me over the years ❤
I remember the Robin Hood Flour Mill Blowing up in Davenport, Iowa back in the 70’s.
I frequently deliver motor oil to St. Paul,When there I love to walk from St. Paul to Minneapolis walking up university ave love both those towns and River that runs thru it. Don’t care for the winters although they’re milder than my first visit 24 years ago.
My Son's great grandfather ate cream of wheat every morning for 90 years. He died last year at age 92.