3 ms·
It used to be meat, and then that was corrected to be starch (potatoes are easy to farm and store)
by triyambakam 3y ago
It used to be meat, and then that was corrected to be starch (potatoes are easy to farm and store)
- ScoobleDoodle 3y agoPotatoes are native to the Americas https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato But there are other starches too.
- Terr_ 3y agoWhen it comes to the "Columbian Exchange" [0] there are quite a lot of animals and plants the people today will (wrongly) assume have existed somewhere since antiquity. (Italian tomatoes, Irish potatoes, wild horses in the American midwest, etc.) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange
- thaumasiotes 3y agoBigger than any of those would be chilis. Peanuts are pretty significant too. Maize is hugely significant, but fairly likely to be recognized as American. Just think what the world could have been like if not for the environmental devastation of the 16th century. ;D
- justinator 3y agoHorses are actually endemic to North America, died out around 5,000 years ago and were then re-introduced a few hundred years ago. Kinda crazy.
- TheCapeGreek 3y agoRelated: A great read on the history citrus and Italy is The Land where Lemons Grow. It's kind of a travel book in some ways.
- wirrbel 3y agoIt must have been something that predates arable farming (sowing seeds on acres), just timeline wise humanity spread before farming became a thing. On the other hand I don't think that this must be a one-factor kind of a game changer thing. I could totally think that two to three changes occured in the food chain (meat, starches, food preservation, improved social skills), that combined amplified each other's effect and lead to the development.