Rice has fed more people over a longer period of time then any other crop. Precise origins have been lost to history, but experts believe the plant probably got its start in India. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Southeast Asians were the first people to cultivate rice; artifacts imprinted with rice grains dating to 4,000 B.C. have been discovered in Korea. Today more than 100 varieties of rice are commercially produced in the United States primarily in six states—Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and California producing 12% of the world’s rice. The majority of domestic use of this rice is direct food (58%) while 16% is in each of processed foods and beer; 10% is used in pet food.

Knowing how to cook this grain properly remains in debate today as it must have been in its very beginning, as it is for Americans since its arrival in South Carolina in 1694. South Carolina and Georgia grew and amassed great wealth from rice prior to the ending of ...