Everybody’s talking about whole grain, but just what is it? At the very basic level, a whole grain is the seed of various types of plants like wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice — just to name a few. These seeds have an important job — they nourish the growth of the seedling into a plant. Or they supply nourishment to the people who eat them. Mother Nature has specially designed seeds for this task. Seeds have three main parts: 1) bran, 2) endosperm, and 3) germ. Each one of these parts has its unique job.