How Potatoes Saved The World

what is your favorite international food Italian spaghetti bolognaise Indian curry Irish coddle Chinese kung pao chicken or Belgian chocolate these all have one thing in common other than the fact that they're all delicious they all rely on Native American plants before Columbus stumbled upon the wrong continent famines regularly ripped through Europe Africa and Asia after 1492 though tables everywhere were introduced to corn potatoes peppers tomatoes chocolate vanilla and many other foods now over 60% of the food consumed worldwide originated in the Americas how did Native Americans create and manage these incredible crops what amazing effects that they have and how did potatoes and bird poop create the modern world well that's fine Oh the Europe that Columbus set sail from was one that we would have a hard time imagining today it was a continent of hunger the populations of northern Europe rose and fell based on a grain harvest which failed a lot France then one of Europe's richest countries suffered a hundred and eleven famines between 30 and 71 and 1791 England lost 10% of his population to famine in 1316 every year in Europe was a winter in Game of Thrones is one gonna say that's why the Mediterranean was the great hub of ancient empires the weather there was much more reliable Rome Persia and Egypt were empires of grain Northern Europe China India and the people of Africa lived and died based on an unpredictable food supply sure they had some crops to grow in their soil Asia was a special akio rice which is the best crop to start a game with but a lot of land just lay unused because no known crops will grow there thousands of miles away the Native Americans were eating beans corn potato cassava chocolate and squash along with much much more they enjoyed probably the most nutritious diet in the world at the time especially those in Mesoamerica and the analyst which is surprising considering the fact that the civilizations that lived in the Andes survived in one of the world's toughest environments but they managed to make it work somehow how well they kind of became early crop scientists they created experimental fields all over the Andes built at different altitudes and ankles towards the Sun if disease our drought struck the crops in one place it wouldn't affect the crops that were bred to survive just a few meters higher up or down this practice allowed them to grow huge amounts of potatoes and corn and thousands of different varieties the ambiens were creating new crops to give themselves a kind of crop insurance they turn the antes into a giant farm by building more than a million acres of terraced fields the Spanish called the man Venus which may have given us the name and this further up in North America traditional farming centred on a small field called a milpa oh by the way I'm Tristan from step back history a milpa is a field in which farmers plant a dozen crops at once with corn squash and beans being the primary crops these are known as the three sisters they're both nutritionally an environmentally complementary kid-tested mom approved the corn plants leaves protect the beans from the Sun while providing a stalk for them to grow up the vines of the squash cover the soil and capture more rain thus preventing erosion while also preventing weeds from growing to thank the squash in the corn for their hard work the beans then fix nitrogen into the soil to help the corn and squash grow the patented three sister system reduces the destruction of the plants by pests which protects the plants without the need for chemical insecticides the three sisters were planted across North America from the Maya and Mexico all the way up to the Haudenosaunee in the US and Canada back to you thanks Tristan if you'd like to learn more about the health and our Shawnee and their incredible great law of peace head over to step back History Channel after this video the link is in the description and make sure you subscribe when you're there because he puts out some fantastic videos by choosing which seeds to plant rather than randomly throwing a handful into the soil which was popular in Eurasia the Native Americans developed thousands of different kinds of plants some of their corn grew in three months others and nine some grew in the desert others in the jungle in Canada to Chile Native Americans found a way to adapt their corn to their environment through trial and error and Native Americans became early geneticists the best example of their abilities are one of the most influential was their cultivation of the potato and lien peoples were eating domesticated potatoes by 2000 BC over thousands of years they developed the wild potato from a poisonous plant into a staple crop true their experimental plots they developed different kinds of potatoes for every soil and weather condition they could find you live in a drought region there's a potato for that near the coast there's a potato for that 3,000 meters above sea level there's potato for that from yellow to purple there was a potato for everyone potato empires rose and fell in the Andes Inca armies marched up and down the continent expanding their borders fueled by their favored tuber at the time of the war with the Spanish and the in farmers had developed over 3,000 different types of potato now no more than 20 different types make up about three-quarters of the total potato harvest in the United States okay so the Native Americans were pretty good farmers and made a bunch of different kinds of potatoes what does that mean to me why should I care I hear you say internet person well imagine what Ireland would be like when out - potato but with the Germans the Russians or the Scandinavians II the Soviet Union would never have become a superpower where a potato Germany could not have fought world wars without potato Netherlands wouldn't have one of the highest living standards in the world without potato Europe is potato before 1492 Europe and the Middle East depended on wheat rye and oats Asia on rice and Africa on millet and sorghum but the grains all have problems sometimes they demand too much or too little heat or water that couldn't be provided these plants are needy and picky but as you've seen the Native Americans had created thousands of different kinds of crops for every imaginable environment whatever region of the world wanted a potato or corn or cassava at least one type was perfect for their climate and soil conditions growing potatoes creates more food with less work than growing grains if you turned an international rugby stadium into a potato farm which is a perfectly normal thing to do it would net you about 7.5 million calories the same stadium planted in wheat produces only 4.2 million calories this means that each farmer could produce more food per worker freeing up workers for other things like inventing steam engines or invading Russia for the billionth time once America crops and specifically the potato landed in Europe their problems would famine stopped historian William H McNeil even argued that potato led to Empire potatoes by feeding rapidly growing populations permitted a handful of European nations to assert dominion over most of the world between 1750 and 1950 potatoes allowed poorer populations such as the Irish who are Europe's poorest people to become some of its most well nourished in 1754 the population of Ireland was 3.2 million less than a hundred years later it was 8.2 million it's about 6 million today but worst what is not gonna dwell on that right now the conquering armies of Catrin and Friedrich the great stomped across Europe forging new political realities while the Enlightenment was in full swing with Voltaire and Rousseau sipping coffee in the Parisian salon Northern Europe began to compete with her once undefeatable southern rivals all on the back of a Peruvian tuber the world population 1750 was out 750 million it hit 1 billion in 1832 billion in 1930 and sits at about seven point seven billion today now the potato didn't cause people to have more babies but a did keep them alive obviously the potato glory be upon it cannot claim full responsibility but it was a major factor the Native Americans gave the world 3/5 of the crops now in cultivation many of which grew in regions once considered in hospitable corn grows where rice and we won't rice prefers semi-tropical zones we enjoy smart temperate zones corn can do both asians fell in love with the sweet potato while africans adopted corn and cassava and they transformed their lives like the potato had the Europeans even though rice is awesome it still has some of the problems of other grains drought or flood will wipe out the entire crop which cause frequent famines and China once the opportunity presented itself no one adopted American plants faster than the Chinese sweet potato arrived in China around the 1560s and it spread rapidly because it didn't compete with rice the instead grew and previously barren lands soon the purr of China had a reliable food source sweet potato took over their diet so much so that to be called the sweet potato eater became a kind of classist insult now china is the world's king or emperor of sweet potatoes producing more than anyone else on earth but it's Africa more than anywhere else has benefited from American crops nowhere else buyer the Americas is as dependent on American plants why well Africa got a bad hand when it came to staple crops very few of our cultivated plants originated in Africa no 50 out of 640 before 1492 the main food plants of Africa were millet and sorghum which according to scientists took eggs they didn't do too well in Africa's tropical zones but corn does corn is now Africa's most important crop in the last century Native American cassava has also soared in popularity due to being one of the most drought tolerant crops it now feeds millions of Africans Nigeria for example grows more cassava than any other food in their spread across the globe Native American food plants transformed every nation's cuisine dishes that we imagine people have been eating for thousands of years are actually quite new Chile became the essential ingredient in Szechuan sauces along with adding their famous kick to Indian curry Italians once doomed to eating lasagna and pasta with carrot sauces or beet sauces can now embrace their one true love the tomato Eastern Europe discovered red peppers and could begin their paprika addiction imagine a ghoulish rota it's it's it's inconceivable but in no other area are American crops so dominant as in snack foods the Native Americans knew how to get their snack on imagine pancakes without maple syrup or to the cinema without popcorn or crisps or even a Snickers they all have Native American origins as well as tortilla chips along with their tomorrow salsas and guacamole dips vanilla and chocolate anything all were raised by natives but the crops that the Native Americans so carefully managed were not their only world transforming gift he also gave us the glorious power of bird poop seriously bird poop is some magical stuff ancient Andean farmers realized how to use fertilizers for better harvests the best of these was guano bird poop piled up over thousands of years on the islands off the Peruvian coast the Inca protected their guano like the invaluable resource that it was to keep their guano stocks high they made killing seabirds or disturbing their nests punishable by death doing this the Inca built literal mountains of fertilizer when Europeans became aware of the uses of guano in the 18th century they went guano crazy soon thousands of ships crisscross in the ocean filled to the brim with poop in 1841 Britain imported 1880 tons of guano in 1843 it was 4,000 56 tons in 1845 two hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-four tons in less than 50 years Peru export 14 million tonnes of guano roughly 13 billion dollars worth today those began Peru's prosperous age of guano guano became so essential that the u.s. and Peru nearly went to war over it only the Americans who the worg on the way before they could that could have been a great bird poo war the age of guano acted as an early Green Revolution the first step towards modern agriculture that has transformed our planet last hundred years have seen some incredible innovations of Agriculture farms produced more than ever before but the Native Americans remain the most influential developers of the world's foods they gave the world a whole new set of crops I've taught everyone how to grow them in the creation of our modern history in the telling of stories the Native American farmer hasn't really been given a place risk-taking conquistadors proselytizing missionaries and the political struggles of colonists Cowboys and Kings took central stage but without the ingenuity of these native farmers read the crops they developed over thousands of years under innovative ways to maintain them most people wouldn't be alive today there is no enlightenment without potato or moon landing without corn cassava is lifting millions of people from poverty or chocolate grants others a small taste of luxury our modern world has roots in a small Native American field hope you enjoyed this video and don't forget to check the link in the description to step back history's video so you can continue to learn more about the history of Native Americans please leave a comment down below if you have any questions regarding the video all the sources used are in the description down below you can also support the channel through patreon and follow me on Facebook Twitter or reddit all the links are in the description and I'll be very much appreciated don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell on your way out and thank you so much for watching you

Channel: Cogito

Views: 267,799

Rating: 4.9172921 out of 5

Keywords: american food history project, native american food, american food, native american food history, north american food history, american food history, The history of potatoes, potato history, native american history, indigenous history, american history, aztec history, maya history, inca history, native history, agriculture history, food history, native food history, potato history video, maya food history, history of farming, history of the potato, food history facts

Id: o1L6P_kMNzY

Length: 15min 48sec (948 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Mictlantecuhtli]

This is great

[u/TUSF]

Fascinating topic. I was aware some of these crops were native to the Americas, but I hadn't considered how vital they were to the rest of the world.