Sweet potatoes are a vegetable in the Convolvulaceae family, signifying that it is a vine, funnel shaped flower, and bisexual plant. Its botanical name is Ipomoea batatas. Sweet potatoes are also assimilated with “yams” in the United States; this is because of its orange-flesh. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013)
Sweet potatoes date back to 750 B.C. in Peruvian reports, even though archeologists have found evidence showing that sweet potatoes began around 2500-1850 BCE. It is also said that Columbus brought sweet potatoes from England and soon after they were transported here. They became very popular in South and Central America. Later, Columbus brought sweet potatoes back to Spain and there they became popular as well. Nonetheless in recipes it would get confused as to whether it was the white potato or the sweet potato. Not until the late 1740’s was when they began to distinguish a difference. The sweet potato also got more “fame” when England’s John Gerard wrote about the sweet potato in his 1597 Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. He wrote that the sweet potato “comforts, strengthens, and nourishes the body” and also, “procuring bodily lust”. Gerard’s suggested words could have been the reason for popularity of sweet potatoes during the 16th century.
Sweet potatoes are grown on the East coast plains, and the Mississippi River delta. This is expected since Columbus brought sweet potatoes over when he came and discovered the New World. At the moment, North Carolina and Louisiana are the leading producers in the United States. They are also grown largely in Georgia and California. Although, this is where sweet potatoes are mainly grown in the United States, they grow best in warm weather, sandy soil, and need a long growing...
... middle of paper ...
...been grown for ages. Because of its long life, it has been studied a good deal and through all the studies has been declared a healthy vegetable. With all of its antioxidants and Vitamins, the sweet potato is one of the healthiest and one of the most used vegetables. It can be prepared in many forms from food to healing “potions”. We have benefitted greatly from the sweet potato.
Works Cited
Cook, R.J. “Influence of Water Potential of Soils and Plants on Root Disease”. Annual Reviews: A
Nonprofit Scientific Publisher. (1972) : n pag. Web. September 1972.
“10 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato”. TLC. Stefani Newman and Emilie Sennebogen. n.d. Web. 2013.
“Sweet Potato”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition.
Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/576854/sweet-potato
Sugar was first grown in New Guinea around 9000 years ago, which New guinea traders trade cane stalks to different parts of the world. In the New world christopher columbus introduced cane sugar to caribbean islands. At first sugar was unknown in Europe but was changed when sugar trade first began. Sugar trade was driven by the factors of production land which provided all natural resources labor what provided human resources for work and capital which includes all the factories and the money that’s used to buy land. Consumer demand was why sugar trade continued to increase.
Along with an exuberance of gold and silver, plants such as corn, tobacco, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, sugar, and myriad other fruits and vegetables were introduced into European diets. The humble potato was especially adopted by the Irish; Tomatoes, the Spanish; and tobacco, the entire world. Due to the increased food supply, the European population exploded and necessitated the subsequent settlement of the ‘New World’.
Sugar in its many forms is as old as the Earth itself. It is a sweet tasting thing for which humans have a natural desire. However there is more to sugar than its sweet taste, rather cane sugar has been shown historically to have generated a complex process of cultural change altering the lives of all those it has touched, both the people who grew the commodity and those for whom it was grown. Suprisingly, for something so desireable knowledge of sugar cane spread vey slow. First found in Guinea and first farmed in India (sources vary on this), knowledge of it would only arrive in Europe thousands of years later. However, there is more to the history of sugar cane than a simple story of how something was adopted piecemeal into various cultures. Rather the history of sugar, with regards to this question, really only takes off with its introduction to Europe. First exposed to the delights of sugar cane during the crusades, Europeans quickly acquired a taste for this sweet substance. This essay is really a legacy of that introduction, as it is this event which foreshadowed the sugar related explosion of trade in slaves. Indeed Henry Hobhouse in `Seeds of Change' goes so far as to say that "Sugar was the first dependance upon which led Europeans to establish tropical mono cultures to satisfy their own addiction." I wish, then, to show the repurcussions of sugar's introduction into Europe and consequently into the New World, and outline especially that parallel between the suga...
The Columbian Exchange was a critical episode in history that created the first truly global network between the Old and New Worlds (Green). Many goods were recognized for their value instantaneously while the potential profits that other assets could offer were overlooked (Mcneill). Modest in appearance, the cacao bean would eventually develop into one of the most delectable, sought-after beverages by the elite of Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and eventually France and England. Nonetheless, the history of the cacao bean is a very bittersweet one. Its prominence among Europeans can ultimately be traced to the inhumane labor imposed on Native American captives and African slaves to cultivate cocoa beans as demand in Western Europe augmented by exponential numbers.
Phythophthora infestans was the lethal fungus that infested Ireland's potato crop and eventually ruined all of the land it grew on. This time is called the Great Famine and has impacted Ireland due to its destructive extinction of the potato farms which caused disease, extreme poverty, and death.
Despite the federal aid granted to sugar growers, not all sectors of agriculture devoted to growing sugar derivatives flourished. Domestic production of sugar cane increased steadily from 1982 onward, while sugar beet production stagnated (Knutson, 1985). Through time, the largest number of sugar beet farmers were concentrated in a specific West/Midwest region of the U.S. (Minnesota, North Dakota, Idaho) while sugar cane farmers were found in the Southeast, specifically Louisiana and Florida.
...ant to avoid fillers, preservatives, and artificial ingredients. A great idea for a healthy training treat is small bits of dried sweet potato.
Schumann, Gail L., and Cleora J. D'Arcy. Hungry Planet: Stories of Plant Diseases. St. Paul: American Phytopathological Society, 2012. Print.
In conclusion, Potatoes were first grown in South America and in Mexico by the Inca people and the potato was introduced to Ireland from South America in 1565. The Irish Potato Famine of the 1800s was caused by Phytophthora infestans. Many Irish people depended greatly on the potatoes for a source of food in the winter and early spring months; potatoes were a staple in the diet of the Irish People. About 1.5 million people immigrated to the United States and another million died of disease or starvation.
Food is an important factor in the everyday human life. Humans need food to be able to live. But how did the food people eat today come about, no one really knows the in depth explanation. What about more common foods that are a part of everyone’s everyday lives, like potato chips. They are a simple, easy snack food that is commonly in every American household. But does anyone know how they came about, who invented them. Well, let me explain a little about who that person was.
Potatoes have become a staple to the diet of humans.They have become so popular since they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and tastes. They are also cheap and easy to grow, and they taste delicious! Potatoes have changed the course of history in several ways. Who knew that potatoes, just a starchy vegetable, could have helped shape the world in so many ways. First, the Irish Potato Famine killed a million people and caused another million to move out of Ireland. Second, soldiers in the United States army were able to eat potatoes throughout the war. Third, they prevented a famine from occurring in England after there was not a sufficient amount of crops going to sustain the country's cries for food. Many people wonder if potatoes have
So how did something not grown to any significant extent in West Virginia evolve into “our food?” Like many things for mountaineers, we got them from the Indians but not the ones that readily come to mind. That’s Indians as in South American Indians. Phaseolus vulgaris, pinto beans and cousins, originated from a common bean ancestor domesticated in Peru or close by 7,000 years ago. In fact, “pinto” is a Spanish word for painted, coined to describe the mottled or seemingly painted specks on this variety of bean.
Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen, Idaho at the J. R. Simplot Plant where he introduces John Richard Simplot, “America’s great potato baron,” (Schlosser 111). Simplot dropped out of school at 15, left home, and found work on a potato farm in Declo, Idaho making 30 cents an hour. Simplot bought and turned profit on some interest-bearing scrip from some school teachers and used the money to at 600 hogs at $1 a head. He feed the hogs horse meat from wild horses he shot himself, later selling them for $12.50 a head. At age 16 Simplot leased 160 acres to begin growing Russet Burbank Potatoes. In the 1920s the potato industry was just picking up as Idaho was discovered to have the ideal soil and conditions for successfully growing potatoes (Schlosser 112). Soon Simplot was the “largest shipper of potatoes in the West, operating 33 warehouses in Oregon and Idaho,” (Schlosser 113). During World War II Simplot sold dehydrated potatoes and onions to the U.S. Army. By the time he was 36 he “was growing his own potatoes, fe...
Apples can be grown farther North than any other tree fruit. The reason for this is that the tree blooms in late spring when it is unlikely that the blossoms will be harmed by frost. While France harvests more apples than America, the yearly U.S. harvest is around one hundred and fifty million bushels, with the largest apple-growing state being Washington.
With such an obsession with sweet foods, there is an obvious desire for an explanation of how such a once unknown substance took center stage on everybody's snack, dessert, and candy list. That's where Sidney W. Mintz comes into play. He decided to write this book Sweetness and Power, and from the looks of all the sources he used to substantiate his ideas and data, it seems that he is not the first person to find the role that sugar plays in modern society important. By analyzing who Mintz's audience is meant to be, what goals he has in writing this book, what structure his book incorporates, what type, or types, of history he represents within the book, what kind of sources he uses, and what important information and conclusions he presents, we can come to better understand Mintz's views and research of the role of sugar in history, and how much it really affects our lives as we know them.