The Long Purée: Blending Plants and Cultures

Humans have been traveling around the world for thousands of years. Since then, we’ve been bringing crops along with us. By the eighth century, Arab empires had begun creating a remarkable trade network. This “Islamic Green Revolution” connected people from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Crops like sugar, coffee, and citrus fruits were commonly traded.

World agriculture changed more when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Bahamas islands in 1492. Eastern and Western Hemispheres connected for the first time in 10,000 years. This period in history is often remembered because of violence. Millions died when Spanish conquistadors destroyed the Aztec and Inca Empires in modern-day Mexico and South America. Alfred Crosby is a historian who studies the environment. He believes the biggest effect of these conquests was not political. It was biological.

The story of plants often disappears in the story of colonization. Humans brought Afro-Eurasian plants to the Americas and took American plants to Afro-Eurasia. Afro-Eurasia refers to the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia. American plants became staple crops in Afro-Eurasia. Staple crops are the most important plants for a population. These new crops changed Afro- Eurasian agriculture. Crosby called the transfer of crops between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia the “Columbian Exchange.” This exchange changed the size, health, and wealth of people all over the world.

The spud that could: Potatoes and populations

Why was the Columbian Exchange so important? Let’s start with the potato, which is native to Peru.

American crops such as potatoes saved millions of people in Afro-Eurasia from starvation. Maize, or corn, was another important crop from the Americas. The extra nutrition provided by these crops caused the world’s population to rise after 1500.

How did potatoes and other American crops like maize do this? Potatoes are rich in calories. They can also grow in difficult conditions, like dry or wet areas where rice or wheat cannot.

At first, people in Europe and China did not think potatoes looked very tasty. Later, they realized that a field of potatoes could feed three times as many people as a field of wheat. European governments encouraged farmers to grow potatoes. By the 1800s, potatoes were a staple crop in Northern Europe.

Potatoes also fueled armies and empires. In China, potatoes were used to feed armies and settlers. This helped the Chinese empire nearly triple in size.

Growing money: Cash crops, plantations, and global trade networks

Potatoes and maize became staple crops and a primary food source for people all over the world. Another type of crop transformed how goods were made and sold. These were called cash crops.

Cash crops are grown to be sold for profit. Europeans turned American plants like tobacco and cacao into cash crops. To make the biggest profit, European colonists began growing huge amounts of the same plant. This process is called monoculture. Then, enslaved people were forced to farm the land for free. This was known as the plantation system.

Europeans also made large trading networks. They became wealthy by traveling to different places and selling cash crops. These traders often brought new crops like potatoes and maize, too. This helped new foods spread around the world even faster.

Talking turkey: Biological exchange and cultural integration

The Columbian Exchange forever changed cultures around the world, especially in the kitchen. Try to imagine Italian food without tomatoes. Or Indian food with no chili peppers. Since 1500, much of the world’s diet has changed because of the Columbian Exchange. People quickly made new foods a part of their culture. To see just how quickly culture and language changed, let’s talk turkey.

In the English language, there is a bird called the turkey. It has that name because the British thought the bird was from a place they called Turkey. In Turkey, the bird’s name was hindi because they thought the bird came from India. Even the Dutch believed the turkey was from India. So did turkeys come from Turkey or India?

The answer is neither. The turkey is actually from Mexico. The English believed the birds were Turkish because they bought them from Turkish traders. In reality, the Turkish traders had bought the birds from Spanish traders.  

The Spanish had brought the birds from what is now Mexico. The whole thing was one big misunderstanding.

The turkey is an example of how fast and far changes spread during the Columbian Exchange. New foods were often introduced to Afro-Eurasian cultures. It took only a few decades before people believed those foods had always been there.

Disaster: Community and environmental disruptions

During the Columbian Exchange, Afro-Eurasia benefited greatly from the Americas. American staple crops helped Afro-Eurasian empires to grow. Cash crops made European colonizers rich.

The crops that Europeans brought to the Americas devastated local ecosystems and cultures. European animals, such as cattle, destroyed native plants. The Spanish replaced American crops with wheat and other grains. Plantation owners destroyed animal habitats and food to make farmland.

The Columbian Exchange wasn’t all good news for Afro- Eurasia. Many European populations came to depend on the potato. One disease could wipe out all the potatoes, eliminating a major food source for millions of people. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Irish Famine of 1845. Millions of Irish starved after a plant disease destroyed the potato crop.

Conclusion

The global exchange of plants and animals that started in 1492 continues today. Modern technology allows us to continue bringing new plants to new places. This often has harmful effects on native species. Of course, we also benefit from these exchanges. Go to the nearest grocery store, and you’ll find food made from plants that started on a different continent.