Bill's mother is certainly correct: Central and South America have yielded many foods now widely cultivated and enjoyed. I still maintain that few contemporary foods appear to have originated north of Mexico: specifically, Jerusalem artichokes, blueberries, and cranberries. Are there others?
Geoff Henebry -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ecolo...@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of William Silvert Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 4:06 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] now I've seen it all - says Orwell I must take issue with the phrase "one of the few foods native to North America" and would like to reciprocate Geoffrey's reference with a reference to a book that my mother wrote called "The Taste Makers: How New World Foods came to Old World Kitchens" which describes numerous foods from the Americas which have made their way to the rest of the world. I believe that she describes 16 different foods, and while some are from South America, many are from the north. She did not include the Jerusalem artichoke, and I am sure that there are other omissions as well. Since my mother, Vicki Oppenheimer, was an anthropologist, she focussed on foods that had cultural significance. Information on the book can be found at http://milpah.silvert.org/tmfinal/ and the entire book can be downloaded there in PDF format for free, although it is also in print and available for sale. Even for those who are not foodies, there is some material of ecological interest as well. Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Henebry, Geoffrey" <geoffrey.hene...@sdstate.edu> To: "William Silvert" <cien...@silvert.org>; <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> Sent: domingo, 17 de Janeiro de 2010 19:24 Subject: RE: [ECOLOG-L] now I've seen it all - says Orwell With respect to the biofuels potential of one of the few foods native to North America, Helianthus tuberosus, let me suggest an entertaining read: The Great Jerusalem Artichoke Circus: The Buying and Selling of the Rural American Dream by JA Amato. Here's the synopsis from the publisher's website (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/A/amato_great.html): In 1981, near the end of America's second post-World War II energy crisis, and at the onset of the nation's most recent farm crisis, American Energy Farming Systems began to sell and distribute what it deemed a "providential plant" destined to be a new and saving crop-the Jerusalem Artichoke. This volume recounts this story of the bizarre intersection of evangelical Christianity, a mythical belief in the powers of a new crop, and the depression of the U.S. farm economy in the 1980s. Enjoy! Geoff Henebry
