Potato- An Important Vegetable

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

The conquistadors eventually used potatoes as rations on their ships and took it back to Spain (Chapman, n.d.). From there, the potato spread to other countries. Unfortunately, the potato was “regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear.” (Chapman, n.d.) Only animals were fed the potatoes at first but as time went on, the aristocracy of Europe began to encourage the lower classes to begin cultivating potatoes. Potatoes, however, did not become a staple until roughly 1795 and the food shortages that came during the time of the Revolutionary Wars in England. (Chapman, n.d.)

He enormously increased the number of kinds of foods and quantities of food by both plant and animal sources. New food crops have enabled people to live in places where they previously had only slim means of feeding themselves. Each new cargo brought new changes to the European diet, helping to improve eating and strengthening national identities with cultural foods. Some of the exotic new crops had humble beginnings; before the tomato made its way into European diets, it was a weed in the Aztec maize fields. The potatoes which hung on to Spanish ships wasn't welcomed at first either; Europeans found it unappetizing. But packing more calories per acre than any European grain, the potato eventually became the dominant food of northern Europe's working class.

Food has had a major social and political influence on the world due to the trading of crops and ideas which have been seen in chapters five and seven of Standage’s novel. You can see this trade when middle-eastern botanists shared different stories of origins during the spread of cinnamon to make others not know how to harvest cinnamon, as well as the trading of potatoes from England and Ireland down to other parts of Europe. Botanists were very important for trade in Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia because they let people acquire spices from all across the world and they made their home civilizations richer because of it. In chapter 7, Columbus brought back maize and sugar from the New World over to Spain which then spread to England and all across the world “So rapid was the spread of maize around the world that its origins became obscured almost immediately” (Kindle Locations 1592-1593). The trading of maize became so important because it can grow almost anywhere, and it served as a very nutritious, popular, ad plentiful

Agriculture was such a prominent part in every civilization since the beginning of time. It was a way for humans to be one with their land for it gave them means to survive. As agriculture became much more recognized in Africa, “cultivators and herders displaced many of the hunting, gathering and fishing peoples who previously inhabited Saharan Africa.” (Bentley,384) With the progression of new technology; iron axes, adzes, and hoes were created, and revolutionized agriculture on their land. The introduction of bananas from sea lanes became popular in Africa and increased the supply of food that was available. Likewise for Medieval Europe, cultivation on Europe grounds allowed more room for agricultural techniques, the utilization of developed tools and technologies, and the institution of new crops. Similar to Africa, population pressure rose and space for more agriculture became necessary. Beans were important to the diets of Europeans as were the bananas to African diets. They also dug ponds to raise fish which in turn led to new

Potatoes were prime to the Americas and even Europe (when they were shipped back) as they were resistant to cold and could grow in very thin soil. In Europe, it supported the sailors, and even the lower class, only adding to its value. It had also saved Ireland from extinction as it was their only choice to avoid starvation (and began a huge Irish stereotype, among

When Europeans went to the new world they learned how to grow subsistent crops like the potatoes. Potatoes saved many lives in parts of Ireland, Scotland, and especially Russia, because of their harsh environment potatoes are one of the few crops that can grow. And as a result hundreds of thousands of people didn’t starve, which helped lead to European expansion.

The new world had acres of land to cultivate crops, raise cattle and farm. In many cases, the Old World crops were grown much more industriously in the New World soils and climates than in Europe (Nunn). For example, by 1680 the sugarcane production was predominantly produced by the new world . With the large increase of supply there was also a large increase in demand. Sugar became available to even the lower class. Overall, caloric intake increased throughout the world. New world foods were also brought to Europe such as the potatoes. Potatoes soon became a staple in European diet that when there was a shortage in Ireland hundreds of people died from starvation. Demand for new world foods and more supply of common food from the Americas, increased the health and economy of

Before 1500, potatoes were not become outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was so subject to the potato that the proximate reason for the Incomparable Starvation was a potato malady. Potatoes in the long run turned into an imperative staple of the eating regimen in quite a bit of Europe. Numerous European rulers, including Frederick the Incomparable of Prussia and Catherine the Incomparable of Russia, supported the development of the potato. Maize and cassava, acquainted with the Portuguese from South America in the sixteenth century, have supplanted sorghum and millet as Africa's most essential sustenance crops. sixteenth century Spanish colonizers acquainted new staple yields with Asia from the Americas, including maize and sweet potatoes, and along these lines added to populace development in Asia. Tomatoes, which came to Europe from the New World by means of Spain, were at first prized in Italy basically for their decorative esteem . From the nineteenth century tomato sauces wound up run of the mill of Neapolitan food and, eventually, Italian cooking when all is said in done. Espresso from Africa and the Center East and sugarcane from the Spanish West Independents turned into the fundamental fare product harvests of broad Latin American manors. Acquainted with India by the Portuguese, bean stew and potatoes from South America have turned into a basic piece of Indian

Introduced to Europe in the mid 1500s, potatoes were able to strongly impact European lives. They originally grew in Peru but spread throughout South America and later in Europe. Potatoes were able to thrive in Ireland, Scandinavia, Germany, and Poland. Potatoes were able to feed many people and improve food supply. The potato was able to supply a steady amount of calories and nutrients which was able to provide a better life for people of the Old World. Potatoes quickly spread throughout Europe and became an important crop. Today people still use the potato for food and other uses such as making stamps and soothing headaches. When growing potatoes today, many diseases can occur. Some include early and late blight, potato scab, and bacterial ring rot.

Europe gained a new wave of crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, maze, and cassava. Europe was introduced to less caloric

Farming was the way of life for the Indians. Indians had farmed almost all of their food products, with the exception of meats. The farming of corn, wheat, and barley were most intriguing to the Europeans. The Europeans took these new crops back to the Old World where they introduced them to the Kings. Once, the value of these crops was discovered Kings from all over the Old World funded more and more trips back to the New World. According to A. Brinkley (pg. 15), such foods as squash, pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes all found their way into European diets. With all their intriguing gadgets, the white men brought deadly diseases to the Native Americans.

Europe, Africa and the Americas were all involved in the agriculture exchange. The New World provided diverse crops; tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, cacao beans and many more. Tobacco was a main source of income for some of the colonies because England had a high demand for the new addicting product. Maize was stable of the people’s diet as it grew and adapted quickly. Potatoes changed the poor man’s diet for many reasons. Potatoes were cheap and could survive harsh conditions. This made them ideal for people who

It was in Germany, too, that the potato met it's greatest ally. Antoine August Parmentier was a French chemist who served as a soldier in the Seven Years War, and was fed only potatoes while in captivity there. When he returned to France, he made it his mission to popularize the tuber, which he felt had beenfriespotat2.gif unjustly rejected by his countrymen. A skillful public relations man, Parmentier published a thesis, "Inquiry into nourishing vegetables that at times of necessity could be substituted for ordinary food" in 1773, and soon afterwards brought a bouquet of potato flowers to the birthday party of King Louis XVI. Graciously accepting the gift, the King promptly placed the flower in his lapel, and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, wore them in her hair, and potato flowers quickly became a fashion among the aristocracy. Still, Legrand d'Aussy wrote of the potato, in his 1783 Histoire de la Vie Privee des Francais (History of the Private Life of the French) "The pasty taste, the natural insipidity, the unhealthy quality of this food, which is flatulent and indigestible, has caused it to be rejected from refined households."

New farming methods came to use during late 16th century. Farmers in many parts of Europe, including Ireland, France, started to raise potatoes. A plant from the “New World”, that for a long tome was seen with a big suspiciousness. A higher rate of potato