The Avocado : Native California Avocados

During the time frame of 1450-1750, the Columbian Exchange was at its height of power and influence. Many products were introduced from foreign lands, like animals such as cattle, chickens, and horse, and agriculture such as potatoes, bananas, and avocados. Diseases also became widespread and persisted to distant lands where it wreaked devastation upon the non-immunized people. One such influential product during this time period was the cacao, or more commonly known as chocolate. First discovered and used in the Americas, cacao beans quickly traveled to and became a popular treat in European lands. It was valuable in the New World and even used as a currency by the Aztecs. Only the rich and privileged

Upon their arrival in America the Europeans brought with them, fruits and vegetables such as peaches, plums, pears, and bananas (Angel, 2012). In addition to these foods, the Europeans brought

natives knew about and used it was, because it grew in the wild. When the Europeans had

This means that for all the other foods that I ate, I have no certainty of where they came from and who actually produced them. Some could have been sourced locally and could have been produced by immigrant farmworkers or they could have been produced across the globe by other farmworkers. The orange and the pear were the only foods that had a sticker demonstrating their country of origin and the company that produced them. The pear that I ate came from the US (place not specified) and the orange that I ate came from this family-owned farm from California. The website of the family-owned farm (Booth Ranch) highlighted its sustainable practices, its focus on freshness, its focus on community outreach, and the products’ nutritional benefits. The website showed an idyllic pasture full of beautiful orange trees being managed by a tight-knit white family. However, aside from a few photos, there was barely any mention of the farm workers and there was no mention in the website of treating their farmworkers

The history of corn can be dated back to the beginning of time, but the use and value of corn had been unnoticed until it was introduce by the Native Americans. Where corn had seemed to be a big part of their everyday life from, being in myths, legends, and for a huge portion of their diet corn was an essential component. "when the Europeans had touched base to the New World during the late fifteenth century, the Native Americans had introduced corn what they had called maize to the Europeans .This crop was then later on grown and adapted from Canada to southern South America very quickly, which then began to form the new basis of the New World civilization" (Leventin & McManhon, 2012). The way corn has been changing and revolutionizing throughout time has been both fascinating and drastic. Rather than conventional corn being grown, it is genetically modified corn that have been dominating today 's crop industry and farming but the question remains as to how the various types of GMO corn has influenced the way it is grown and used and what its ramification are.

Native Americans started the development of maize. In 1491 Mann says, “Indians developed an extraordinary number of maize varieties for different growing conditions, which meant that the crop could and did spread throughout the planet”(pg17). With the spread of maize the Indians caused several

The indigenous people of California had existed on the lands as hunters-gathers before the arrival of the Spanish who were the first Europeans to reach this part of the Americas. These settlers who began surveying the area since 1530, helped introduce the mission system around 1697 as part of an effort to set up permanent bases for new arrivals and as a bulwark against other European powers. This establishment caused the natives to transition from their original lifestyle into agrarian farmers to help bring in revenue for the Spanish crown which led to them being exploited economically in the process. To establish order in this new land, the Spaniards used harsh punishments for rooting out defiance within the Indian population. However, eventually the natives would begin to die off in such large quantities that it echoed what else was happening what was happening in the rest of the continent. Overall, the effect on the indigenous population was predominantly negative due to contributing towards loss of culture, experiencing callous treatment at the hands of the Spanish, and forced population decline.

Citrus, grapes, bananas, sugar cane, onions, olives turnips, coffee beans, peaches, pears and grains such as wheat, rice barley and oats were some of the plants that were introduced from Europe to the Americas. From the Americas came squash, pumpkins, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes corn, sweet potatoes, peppers, tobacco, pineapple, cacao, beans and vanilla. This exchange was life changing for everyone involved. According to Crosby, more people were able to have food in both continents because of the variety that was exchanged to each place.

Beginning in the 1400s, Europeans sailed around the world in search of new land to settle and build communities on. However, their technology was nowhere near what we have today. Without satellites, they had to explore in order to create maps. However, it wasn't until the mid 1800s that the economy began to rapidly grow and evolve California into the state it is today.

Gary Soto's poem Oranges is narrated in the first person, from the point of view of an older gentleman recounting what had happened on his very first date as a young child. The poem starts out with the boy walking to go pick up the girl on a cold December day. In his pockets are two oranges that weigh him down as he walks. As he approaches her house, always lit with a porch light, a dog starts barking at him. The rouge wearing girl steps out from her house pulling on her gloves.

The Michoacan state in Mexico has become the world’s largest producer of avocadoes. Although this vegetable is grown on farms throughout this state, it is also tied to an integral network of trade and export to countries across the globe. In this essay, I will argue that like any commodity chain study, the production of the organic Hass avocado has an intricate production process, which for my commodity chain study begins in Uruapan, Mexico a town in the state of Michoacan. This analysis has indicated the crucial underlying links to trade, labour, and demand that the export of this vegetable has created throughout North America

Hispanic Americans have a strong tie to their culture and display it in their cuisine. Rice and beans are staples to la familia, together they provide a complete protein, and are inexpensive. Spicy peppers and hot sauce provide antibacterial and digestive health qualities that were imperative to provide healthy meals in Mexico because the water supply isn’t guaranteed to be safe for drinking. Historically, many tomato products were introduced to the United States by Mexico, including burritos, tacos, other Mexican cuisine and even ketchup (Sowell, 1981).

The acai berry is a unique fruit that mostly grows in the Amazon; this limited product is wanted

Among all the states of the Union, California is probably the most famous both inside the United States and around the world. This fame is based on images made popular through television and the movies, which portray California as a modern, exciting leading edge society. The most important aspect of the California modern economy today is the same as it was to the Natives of California, California Agriculture.

The author of the book, “The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World” (2008), Dan Koeppel, who is a famous journalist describes in a fascinating way banana’s cultural importance, threats associated with the crops of banana in the future and banana’ history. Banana is a very delicious fruit and is eaten all over the world. Banana is one of the world’s fourth largest harvests in the world. Dole and Chiquita are eminent American based distributors and producers of banana. They are claiming to produce the banana on low price. In this book, Koeppel discusses the risks associated to the plantation of banana around the world. He also discusses the fact that due to blight, the plantation of banana is destroyed (Koeppel, 2008). He points out that the farmers and the producers have no insight at all regarding this matter (Koeppel, 2008).