Straw was a stalk of threshed grain, used as bedding and food for animals, for thatching, and for weaving or braiding, into baskets.
A boater was a type of hat made from woven straw. (TOS: "A Piece of the Action")
After using the slang term needle in a haystack, Miles O'Brien had an idea how to find the metal in the straw by using a magnet. (DS9: "Battle Lines")
Rumpelstiltskin, a fictional character from an ancient Earth fairy tale, could spin straw into gold, and agreed to do so for a young maiden in exchange for her firstborn son. (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses")
In 2267, Dr. Leonard McCoy stated that straw would taste better than the meat that Trelane offered. (TOS: "The Squire of Gothos")
When Captain Kathryn Janeway asked a holographic Leonardo da Vinci what he imagined his life would be like if he were a sparrow, he replied that he would make his home in a tree, in the branch of an elm and would hunt insects for food, straw for his nest and in the springtime he would sing for a companion. (VOY: "Concerning Flight")