Several different types of squash are also native to various regions
of the Southeast and East Coast. Tree nuts were also managed
intensively for food purposes as well as many native tubers that most
are not familiar with. "Wild" rice is also native to the Great Lakes
Region and is still managed by American Indians today. There is a
surprising amount of native agrobiodiversity that was intensively
managed - although not 'domesticated' and managed as the other
centers and regions of origin for most of our economically important
crop species. Many crops have significant local and regional
cultural value but have not diffused broadly (yet).
Laura R. Lewis
Assistant Professor
Crop Evolution and Biogeography
Department of Geography and Environmental Systems
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
On Jan 18, 2010, at 8:08 AM, Henebry, Geoffrey wrote:
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:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William Silvert
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 4:06 PM
To: [email protected]
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" <[email protected]>
To: "William Silvert" <[email protected]>; <ECOLOG-
[email protected]>
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
