How Well The Corn Prospered.
Dublin Core
Title
How Well The Corn Prospered.
Subject
A Patuxet man, Squanto, is shown demonstrating how to plant maize and use fish as a fertilizer.
Description
The importation of maize into international diets began with the first encounters with the native inhabitants of the Pre-Columbian Americas by European settlers and explorers starting as early as the 15th century.
Maize can trace its origins to Mexico where it had since spread out as a viable crop for the rest of North America. Commonly used in Three Sisters agriculture in what is now the midwestern United States, it was often used in stews, as flour, or eaten on its own. When European settlers began to inhabit the eastern portions of North America, they encountered tribes cultivating this grain to eat. Maize in colonial diets was often not seen as appealing as, during the 18th century in the Thirteen Colonies, it was often seen as animal food, but recipes detailing how to make corn bread and other corn based dishes persisted. Foods like hoecakes were often eaten in the absence of wheat based flour breads during the American Revolution, for example.
Today, corn finds itself in a variety of different international cuisines beyond its original continent. In the current American diet, corn production became so abundant due to agricultural subsidies and a friendly environment to grow in, that it began being added to many different food products in the form of corn syrups. This has lead to numerous controversies about the potential health side effects of this practice.
Maize can trace its origins to Mexico where it had since spread out as a viable crop for the rest of North America. Commonly used in Three Sisters agriculture in what is now the midwestern United States, it was often used in stews, as flour, or eaten on its own. When European settlers began to inhabit the eastern portions of North America, they encountered tribes cultivating this grain to eat. Maize in colonial diets was often not seen as appealing as, during the 18th century in the Thirteen Colonies, it was often seen as animal food, but recipes detailing how to make corn bread and other corn based dishes persisted. Foods like hoecakes were often eaten in the absence of wheat based flour breads during the American Revolution, for example.
Today, corn finds itself in a variety of different international cuisines beyond its original continent. In the current American diet, corn production became so abundant due to agricultural subsidies and a friendly environment to grow in, that it began being added to many different food products in the form of corn syrups. This has lead to numerous controversies about the potential health side effects of this practice.
Creator
The German Kali Works, New York.
Source
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Squantohowwellthecornprospered.png
Publisher
Garland Armor Bricker
Date
1911
Rights
Public Domain
Collection
Citation
The German Kali Works, New York., “How Well The Corn Prospered.,” The History of Food, accessed May 1, 2024, https://foodhistory.omeka.net/items/show/9.