The evidence is tilting heavily in favour of us cultivating grains, not for bread or fried rice, but for getting wasted. ...
Actually it was because water wasnt safe to drink back then untreated so a little wine or other alcoholic beverage mixed with water killed enough pathogens to make the water safe to drink. Even little kids drank this to avoid getting diseases. Some of course loved to drink but there were many people who didnt drink to get drunk. In the Ancient Middle East there were different wines for everyday sanitizing of water then cooking wine and finally the expensive good tasting wines for drinking to merriment.
