How Buddhism, Christianity, and The Columbian Exchange Made an Impact on Food History
In Rachel Laudan’s “Chapter 3: Buddhism Transforms the Cuisines of South and East Asia, 260 B.C.E – 800 C.E.” of her Book, Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History, she shares her perspective on the role Buddhism played in transforming the cuisines of Asia. Buddhism is a universal religion with various branches that became prominent in the third century B.C.E. when people began to question separate state sacrificial religion and transition to a universal religion (Laudan pg. 128). Along with this religious transition came a transition in cuisine as well. The earliest Buddhist cuisine contained steamed or boiled rice, sugar and ghee, shunned meat, and
…show more content…
In Kenneth F. Kiple’s Chapter 14 and 15 of his book, A Movable Feast he explains the Columbian exchange through his point of view. Chapter 14 gives us a look at the items transferred from the new world back over to the old. Kiple points out that Europe originally struggled with the acceptance of many of the food stuffs that came over from America (Kiple pg. 136). Europe had many fears and worries related to the attempt of trying the food sent over from the Americas. After Europeans got over their initial fear of the new world food they began to see how greatly it could benefit them. Kiple shares the extreme benefits potatoes had on Europe in his chapter 14. He also recognized the squash, pumpkin, turkey, and various other food stuffs from America that soon gained acceptance in Europe (Kiple 138-141). Kiple explains that all these new foods impacted the calorie intake of the Europeans as well as resulted in a population growth. Food that made its way from America to Africa also had the same results, Africa like Europe experienced a rapid growth in population. Kiple recognizes that although population growth sounds good it can also soon result in food scarcity, which is what it did until these old world countries became more willing to accept new American food, learn how to grow and prepare it, and in result prosper (Kiple pg. 143-145). Chapter 15 of Kiple’s book highlights the old world foods that made it to new world territory through the Columbian exchange. The territory of Oceania had nothing to offer the old world. Most of where their foods came from were sent over from the old world (Kiple pg. 153). On the other hand, we already know from the previous chapter that America had lots to offer the old world and the
on the New World was both beneficial and destructive. An example of both was the trade of new plants and agriculture. The trade of these items worked two ways. First, new plants and ideas were shipped outside to Europe from the New World. Accounts from explorers and travelers such as Christopher Columbus and Hernando Cortez explain that the crops and animals in the New World were fulfilling and plentiful, exactly what they needed in their homelands. (Doc 1 and 2) Second, Europe brought their own agriculture and goods to the New World; things they could not live without. In an illustration from the Codex Florentino, ships of Hernando Cortez are being eagerly unloaded onto the shores of Mexico, signifying the trade from the Old World to the New. (Doc 5) The trade of such goods was important to the diet and changing society of the natives living in the New World. However, the trade was possibly more destructive than good. In Alfred Crosby’s description of plant exchange, he finds that most plants that are invasive ad destructive to the natural environment of
The beginning of the exchange happens, the plants and foods. The diets of the two cultures happened to be different, and so they altered them. The Western Hemisphere had many new different options for the Europeans to choose from. There were three new foods that the Europeans did not recognize, but took advantage; corn, which was called maize, it basically grew everywhere, sweet and white potatoes, and many different kinds of beans that the Europeans loved. (Shi and Tindall 37). Some other examples of the food the Indians shared with the Europeans are peanuts, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, avocados, cacao, chewing gum, and the list goes on. The Europeans, on the other hand, presented to the indigenous people, the greatest foods that still go on to this day, which are, rice, wheat, barley, wine grapes, melons, coffee, olives, bananas, daisies, and many more. The transactions of these foods were so important to both cultures because when they combined them, they were amazingly rich in taste. Europeans did not have pepper, but when adding it to the food it became something so delicious it could not be real. Also, they did not know that in the future young people would conquer the New World with the positive effect that corn left them (Shi and Tindall 37). Both of these groups basically repaired their culture for good.
In the new world, Europeans encountered indigenous plant foods cultivated by Native Americas. These plants were potatoes, beans, corn, tobacco, and cocoa. The potato is especially important because it’s known for one of the main foods for Ireland. The European’s influenced oats and barley etc. Domesticated animals as pigs, chickens, sheep, and ox were also brought to the Americas. Horses were also brought to the new world which was a new tool for hunting and used for military.
The Columbian exchange transferred slaves, animals, disease, and crops in the cycle of the New World, Old World, and Africa. As the Old World received gold and silver from the New World, the Spanish increasingly relied on silver--and with the increased supply of it, created inflation throughout Europe. New foods allowed for a population boom, especially the potato, which provided nutrients at a low cost. Disease brought from the old world devastated the Indian populations, while horses allowed for more tribes to have hunting lifestyles. Africa became more reliant on selling slaves for monetary gain.
The long-term effects of the Columbian exchange included the swap of food, crops, and animals between the New World and Old World, and the start of the transoceanic trade. In order to produce a profit, Portuguese explorers were the first to established sugar cane plantations in Brazil. They then sold this crop to the Old World where it was a popular commodity because it provided Europeans with a sweetener for foods. In addition, European produce was brought to the New World, including “…wheat, vines, horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens… Where they sharply increased supplies of food and animal energy.” This fusion of crops between the Old and New World became fundamental in enhancing the diets and food of both populations.
Food and crops, such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and sugar cane had a very big impact to the New World in helping to feed more people. These crops and food were a great find, considering people in the new world lived in treacherous places, such as the Mayans, but they found crops that were easy to grow. Tobacco, sugar, coffee and the many other New World crops became popular all over the world and brought more Europeans to Central America. Another positive for Europeans from the Columbian Exchange was the introduction of new medicines from the New World such as quinine for Malaria, “...exploration and colonization of this vast tropical regions of these continents was aided by the New World, discovery of quinine the first effective treatment for Malaria.” (pg 164 of The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas). Disease (along with slavery and war) was one of the huge negatives of the Columbian Exchange, because European diseases killed millions of Native Americans who did not have immunity to them. However, there are many diseases in the world, such as smallpox, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, typhus, and malaria and, although you could argue that if the Europeans had never come to the New World these diseases might not have come either, with its plentiful resources and its creative population the two civilizations would have eventually met, so this seems unlikely.
The Columbian Exchange was perhaps one of the first environmentally detrimental event in American history. This exchange refers to the trade of food, goods, and disease between the Old World, referring to the eastern hemisphere, and the New World, referring to the Americas. The New World had many things to contribute such as potatoes, maize, tomatoes, and chili peppers, which shaped the culinary of both Europe and Asia (Nun 163). Additionally, Europe introduced domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, cats, and dogs to the Americas.
The Columbian Exchange is the movement of goods or products and people. It was introduced in the time of Columbus voyages. It put plants, animals and cultures together. Europe introduced technology, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, tobacco and cotton. The Old world then introduced wheat, rice, sugarcane, horses, cattle, pigs and sheep. One downfall of this transaction was that Europeans brought with them germs.
Through the Columbian Exchange, the Indians brought potatoes to the Old World, which proved as a useful crop because you didn't have to take them out of the ground until you were ready to eat them. The Europeans brought over horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle to the New World. These animals flourished in the New World because they all were able to produce without having to worry about predators. The Europeans also brought sugar cane and bananas to the New World. These crops and livestock helped to make the New World a more diverse living space for the Europeans and the
In “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas,” the authors point out that there were two channels in the transfer of food crops. One are unknown tropical spcies from the New World, which has affected on the growth of local cuisines. They are rich in calories and improving taste and vitamin intake. Otherwise, the Old World also brought certain crops. America gave a plenty of land that helped response the high food demand, and became the main supplies for Old World markets. In this way, they unknowingly carried many Old World diseases, such as smallpox, meales, and other diseases. They were unfamiliar to the Native America and they never had developed immunity to such disease. By the early 1600’s, the population of Indians decreased nearly 90%. Furthermore, Columbus’ sailors encountered sexually with native women Indians so that they brought the deadly bacteria unwittingly back to Europe. This reason led slavery system traded from Africa for labor requirement for cotton and tobacco plantation
When examining early American history it is commonplace, besides in higher academia, to avoid the nuances of native and colonizer relations. The narrative becomes one of defeat wherein the only interaction to occur is one of native American’s constant loss to white colonizers. It is not to say that the European colonizers didn’t commit genocide, destroy the land and fabric of countless cultures, but rather when looking at history it is important to take a bottom’s up approach to storytelling. We must examine in what ways the native Americans fought English colonization, not just through war, but also through the legal system that was established after the area was colonized.
The “Colombian Exchange” refers to the trade between the Americans and Europeans. This trade consisted of multiple commodities including plants, food, and agriculture. Europe in search of more land in which to expand their territory discovered the Americas. The European’s brought corn, chili, pumpkins, tomatoes, and potatoes back to Europe, as well as sugar and tobacco for the more prestigious class (Angel, 2012). This added much diversity to the European diet; their primary source of nutrition was grain (rye, wheat, oats, and barley) (Angel, 2012).
The Columbian Exchange is a huge exchange of goods and ideas between the old world and the new world. The old world is considered Europe, Asia and Africa and the new world is considered America. Their colonies started to trade with each other and that’s when they formed the Columbian Exchange. Many countries were involved in this trade, including China, Africa and Italy. The exchange of the new ideas, traditions, food, religion and diet changed cultures everywhere. The Natives gave and received many items. Even though Europeans and American Indians saw some similarities in each other, their words differed. The introduction of plants into the new world extended a process that had been taking place for centuries in the Old World. Trade
What many people only know about Christopher Columbus’s expedition is that he found the Americas. While this is true, he did find a completely new frontier that was unknown to the Old World, his findings re-shaped global consumption patterns from the seventeenth century. He found a New World filled with resources that the old world hasn’t seen before. When he found the new world he brought with him European plants and animal species that were foreign to the citizens of the New World. The Columbian Exchange introduced many foods that are still essential to consumption in today’s world along with the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The potato is a prime example of how the Columbian Exchange changed global consumption patterns because it was nutritious and had an abundant amount of calories in it and caused a mass population increase in areas where the potato was available. The use of slaves also increased exponentially when sugar cane was introduced. This was a very cheap, productive way to produce a large amount of sugar and it was used by many Old World countries. The findings of these new world products created a rise in global consumption and production because products were introduced to the both the New World and the Old World and there instantly became a large spike in the availability of products. Along with this, the old world decided to go out and get themselves involved in the New World because they saw an opportunity
and Old world, and the deadly interactions of the natives and Europeans. Some examples of new foods