U.S. history of food week 4 study guide

Why don't we call the bird huexolot?

An English scientist Thomas Harriot encountered huexoloti and noted them as American birds with a resemblance to Turkish turkeys.

Why was cassava readily adopted in Africa?

Because it was easy to grow there, it was found to be resistant to locusts since its edible roots remain safely out of reach underground.

Why is our iconic Thanksgiving bird named after a country in the Middle East

Because turkey arrived in the ottoman empire (in the area we now know as turkey) and landed in the hands of the most advanced farmers.

Before the widespread availability of sugar, where had Europeans found sweetness?

Chocolate

What was the relationship between botany and colonialism?

Colonialism, commerce, and science went hand in hand; the number of plants a nation had at its disposal, and its botanists' ability to grow them outside their usual habitats demonstrated that nation's technical skill.

What role did the potato and sugar play in the ascent of England to super power status? Why was corn such an important crop?

Corn produced more calories per acre than any other food, it was super versatile and could grow anywhere.

What is four-course rotation, and how did it boost European food production?

Crop rotation of turnips, barley, clover and wheat. Turnips were grown on land that would've otherwise been left fallow and then fed to animals, whose manure enhanced the barley fields the next year. Feeding animals with turnips also meant the land pasture could be used to grow crops for human consumption. Growing clover helped to restore the fertility of soil to ensure a good harvest in the following year.

Why didn't Europeans enslave Native Americans, or why is it that they chose to enslave Africans? How did the triangular trade work?

Trade of plants, diseases and people between Europe, America and Africa.

How did maize and potatoes alter life in China?

It contributed to the increase from 140 million in 1650 to 400 million in 1850. Maize could be grown in areas that were too dry for rice and on hillsides that could not be irrigated, it added to the food supply and allowed people to live in new places.

Why did it take so long for Europeans to adopt the potato?

It took botanists a few years to breed new varieties that were well suited to the European climate.

Why was the Ottoman Empire so powerful in the 15th century?

It was the largest and most powerful political realm since the decline of Rome. Ottoman military covered as much territory and peoples as ever were controlled by Rome across wide expanses of Asia minor, Europe, Russia and northern Africa. Also, the Ottoman Empire was an expression of Islamic religion, learning, and culture.

Standage argues that the post-Columbian transfer of foods represented "the most significant reordering of the natural environment by mankind since the adoption of agriculture" - how so?

New foods from foreign lands slotted into previously underexploited ecological niches increasing food supply in many cases.

What is the relationship between sugar and slavery?

Slaves grew sugar especially in Haiti and Caribbean

What can we learn about food from the painting, "Portrait of King Charles of England"?

Pineapples were extremely rare in England, they were associated with the king's power and wealth. Pineapples were known as the "fruit of kings". The pineapple symbolized England's rise as a maritime trading power.

What is a Malthusian Trap?

Population increases in a geometrical ratio, subsistence increases in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will shew the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second. The effects of these two unequal powers must be kept equal which implies a strong and constantly operating check on population from the difficulty of subsistence. Basically: the population would double every 25 years and then double again after the same interval, it was difficult to see how food production would keep up.

Standage argues that sugar production was a preview of industrial factory production in the nineteenth century - how so?

Slaves produced sugar at fast rates like they do in factories.

Why did the arrival of new world crops and new agricultural technology actually result in mounting malnutrition in the late 18th-century England?

The surge in agricultural productivity could no longer keep up with population growth. It had difficulty maintaining the pace it had set itself once the population expanded.

What effect did maize and potatoes have on Europe?

The population grew from 103 million in 1650 to 274 million in 1850. Potatoes could be grown on European land that was unsuitable for wheat and were far more reliable.

How did the potato transform Ireland?

The population increased from around 500,000 in 1660 to 9 million in 1840. They ate a lot of potatoes until they went through the potato famine.

Why did European powers invest so much in botany?

The pursuit of scientific knowledge went hand in hand with furthering the national interest and botanical gardens were being established around the world as colonial laboratories. They wanted to add to mankind's understanding of nature.

Why did sweet potatoes catch on in Japan?

They could survive the typhoons that occasionally destroyed the rice crop

What is the etymology (history) of the word "spice"?

· English word spice comes from Latin word species also root of word for "Special" · Species=type or kind o Came to refer to valuable things because species meant type or kind of duty paid on it

Why did the European link to India fall apart by 400ad?

· As roman empire declined and wealth and spear of influence shrank the direct spice trade with India started to slow · Islam cut Europe off from Indian ocean · Once Alexandria fell, spices could no longer reach meditaranian directly · Muslim had curtain on them

What was medieval European cuisine like - how is it different than French or Italian food today?

· Food was being smothered in spices · In medieval cookbook spices appeared in more than half of recipes · Wealthy has expensive taste · Spices cover rotten meat (but spice more expensive than meat) · Thought to be splinters of paradise

Where did spices come from?

· Frankincense came from Arabia · Cinnamon came from southern India and Sir Lanka as well as pepper · Arabs liked to keep true orgins of spices mysterious · Further they came more expensive they were

What role did spices play in Christianity?

· Ginger and cinnamon were to behold from the nile in nets having washed down the river from paradise · Garden of Eden exotic plants grew in abundance they provided an other worldly taste of paradise under reality of earthly existence · Religious use of insense common still today o Said to provide scent of the heavly realm · Spices were offered to the Gods as burnt offerings · Spices also used to prepare dead for afterlife

Why did Columbus call chilies "peppers" and Native Americans "Indians"?

· He thought that America was india so in turn he tought that Chillies were a kind of spice, specifically peppers · He also thought that the native Americans were people from india so he started calling them Indians

What new foods did Europeans discover in the Americas?

· Maize, potatoes, squash, chocolate, tomatoes, pineapple, apples and new flavoring (vanilla) · Chili were thought to be pepper

How did Islam facilitate trade?

· Muhhamads followers conquered all of Persia, Mesopotamia, Palestein, and Syria, eygyt and the rest of North Africa coast · Islam spread everywhere · Trade and Islam highly compatable · Islamics wanted to Merchants because Muhhammed had been one aswell · Islam traders were more inclined to do business · Trade spread islam, Islam spread trade

It was the Portuguese not the Spanish who were the first to get around the Muslim curtain and sail to Asia - how did they do it?

· Portugal rounded Africas cape on accident · Returned to Lisben with the knowledge that there was a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian ocean

Standage argues that between 500bc and 200ad that there the spice trade existed as a sort of early world-wide web - what does he mean?

· Pursuit of spices third way in which food remade the world both by helping to illuminate full extent of geography and helping European explorers to seek direct access to Indies · For the first time Europeans had become direct participants in the thriving trade network of the Indian ocean-the hub of global commerce at the time · Vast trade network established, everyone wanted spices · Encompassed entire old world · China, Arbia, and as far east as England were involved · Beliefs, religions, customs are carried on trade roots as well o Wine making traveled to china through this o Knowledge of noodles came back in turn

Standage argues that Europeans thought that spices cured plague, but he argues that in fact spices actually precipitated plague - how so? What motivated Columbus's exploration of the Americas?

· Spices with their magical associations, pungent aromas, and long history of medical uses · Smell cured air of plague since plague thought to be in air · Spices were completely useless in preventing infection · PARTYLY TO BLAME FOR ARRIVAL AND SPREAD OF PLAGUE o The plague reached Kafa from asia before being spread around by Genoese spice ships o By the time connection between spice trade and plague was noticed, it was too late · Europeans concerned with Muslim control of spice trade in east · Spice price increased · Wanted to find way away from Muslim curtain and establish direct trading links with the east · Fall of Constantinople triggered European age of exploration · This choked off way to east all together · Priced continued to jack up · They sent Columbus because they wanted to find new trade route to India, thought America's weren't there. · They sent Columbus, had solid support · King Fertinand and Queen Isabella decided to be patron thinking they could make a lot of money

Why were Europeans so entranced with spices?

· They came from far distant places where strange creatures were · They had exotic connotations and mysterious origins · Prized spices for unusual scents and tastes · Showed wealth