In fact, it is a food stable for nearly half of the planet's population.

事實上，它是地球上近一半人口的穩定食物。

Native to Asia, it has been grown and consumed for thousands of years, but today, machines do much of the harvesting and processing in order to feed the enormous demand.

它原產於亞洲，已有數千年的種植和消費歷史，但如今，為了滿足巨大的需求，大部分收穫和加工工作都由機器完成。

These perfectly formed kernels of rice are essentially a crop that has been allowed to go to seed.

這些形狀完美的稻粒基本上是被允許播種的作物。

After about 150 days of growth, the rice seed is ready for harvest.

經過大約 150 天的生長，水稻種子就可以收穫了。

Machinery strips it from the stalks and also suctions out some of the empty husks.

機械將其從莖稈上剝離，並吸出一些空殼。

Trucks transport the rice to storage facilities.

卡車將大米運往儲存設施。

They empty it into a grated opening at the receiving pit.

他們將其倒入接收坑的柵欄口。

The grates filter out some of the larger stalks and debris.

柵欄可以過濾掉一些較大的秸稈和碎屑。

From the pit, a chain conveyor moves the rice up to storage silos and into warehouses.

從地坑中，鏈式輸送機將大米輸送到儲藏筒倉，再送入倉庫。

Inside the storage facilities, fans blow air through the mountain of rice to lower the moisture content substantially.

在儲藏設施內，風扇向堆積如山的大米吹風，以大幅降低水分含量。

With the rice sufficiently dried, it's on to the processing plant.

大米充分乾燥後，就可以進入加工廠了。

Here, a probe vacuums up samples from both the front and the back of the massive truckload.

在這裡，一個探頭從大型卡車的前部和後部吸走樣本。

The probe delivers the samples to a lab.

探針將樣本送到實驗室。

A technician first tests the moisture content to confirm that it's on target.

技術人員首先會檢測含水量，以確認是否達到目標。

He then transfers batches to a sifting pan to screen for bugs.

然後，他將批次產品轉移到篩盤中篩選蟲子。

He switches on a heat lamp to wake them up.

他打開加熱燈，把它們叫醒。

He shakes the rice and scrutinizes.

他搖晃著大米，仔細端詳。

He also examines the tray underneath for tiny bugs that may have fallen through the holes.

他還檢查了下面的托盤，看是否有小蟲子從孔中掉落。

If he finds just one moth or beetle, the entire 5,500-pound truckload of rice will be rejected.

如果他只發現一隻飛蛾或甲蟲，整車 5,500 磅的大米就會被拒收。

Next, the rice falls through perforations in rolling cylinders, screening out the straw which spills over the side.

接著，稻米從滾筒的穿孔中落下，篩掉溢出一側的稻草。

The next machine sifts out the remaining straw bits and any weed seed.

下一臺機器篩出剩餘的稻草碎屑和雜草種子。

It also suctions out empty rice husks.

它還能吸出空稻殼。

They're lightweight and pulled out with a weak vacuum.

它們重量輕，用微弱的真空就能拉出。

Finally, they remove mud balls.

最後，他們會取出泥球。

Free of contaminants, the rice now spills between two rubber rollers, one moving faster than the other.

現在，沒有雜質的大米灑在兩個橡膠輥之間，一個輥子比另一個輥子移動得更快。

This sheers off the husks.

這樣就能剪掉外皮。

The rice and empty husks then cascade into another machine.

然後，大米和空稻殼被層層倒入另一臺機器。

This is a demo version of the actual production one.

這是實際生產版本的演示版。

Weak suctioning pulls out the husks to separate them from the heavier rice.

微弱的吸力將稻殼吸出，使其與較重的大米分離。

The dehusking process misses a few kernels.

脫殼過程會漏掉一些果核。

So next, giant sifting machines screen out that rice.

接下來，巨大的篩分機將大米篩選出來。

Still in husks, it's bigger and doesn't pass through the holes in the shaking trays.

由於還帶著殼，它的體積更大，無法通過搖盤上的孔。

They dehusk that rice and mix it with the rest.

他們將這些米去殼後與其他米混合在一起。

Grinding machines now mill the rice to remove the bran.

現在，碾米機可以碾去米糠。

The bran spills out of perforations and is recovered for use in cattle feed.

麩皮從穿孔中溢出，回收後用於牛飼料。

With the bran removed, the rice goes from brown to white.

去掉米糠後，大米就會從糙米變成白米。

The final grinding polishes the rice to give it a pearly sheen.

最後的研磨使大米呈現出珍珠般的光澤。

This is the unmilled brown rice.

這是未經碾磨的糙米。

And here it is with the bran removed.

這是去掉麥麩後的照片。

During milling, some rice kernels are damaged.

在碾米過程中，有些米粒會受損。

This spinning dimpled cylinder now separates the broken kernels from the whole ones.

這個旋轉的凹陷圓筒現在可以將破碎的果核和完整的果核分離開來。

The broken rice kernels fall into the dimples of the cylinder and from there into an internal catch pan.

破碎的米粒落入圓筒的凹陷處，再從那裡落入內部的收集盤。

They'll be used to make cereal or beer.

它們將被用來製作穀物或啤酒。

The whole rice now moves through a color sorter.

現在，整個大米都要經過色選機。

Computerized cameras analyze it for dark imperfections and signal air nozzles to blast them out of the mix.

電腦攝像頭分析其中的暗瑕，併發出信號讓空氣噴嘴將其噴出。

Of course, there's also a market for unmilled brown rice.

當然，未經碾磨的糙米也有市場。

Now ready for packaging, a scraper moves it across a table and into plastic tubes below.

現在可以進行包裝了，一個刮刀將其從桌子上刮到下面的塑料管中。

Hot jaws seal the tubes at both ends and this rice is in the bag.

熱爪將管子兩端密封，大米就裝進了袋子。

Brown or white, short or medium grade, there are plenty of options.

棕色或白色，短款或中檔，可供選擇的餘地很大。