guy Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 (edited) Quote Although pumpkins and other gourds have become staples at Thanksgiving, they were not the only original crops in the Americas. Other crops domesticated around the same time, like sumpweed, little barley and goosefoot, are now gone from today’s palates. Quote “We have a set of lost crops in Eastern North America that were absolutely foundational for thousands of years to Indigenous societies, but most of them no longer exist,” said Dr. Elizabeth Horton, a paleoethnobotanist and archaeologist with the Lost Crops Network, who studies how the lost crop sumpweed was domesticated. Other examples of lost crops are goosefoot, a close relative to modern quinoa, and little barley, a relative of modern barley. The domesticated versions of these plants are now only found at archaeological sites, typically in seed form. Quote Lost crops are absent from today’s dinner plate, but they share a history of domestication with crops that humans still eat. For example, while sumpweed is gone, sunflower seeds are still common in grocery stores. Uncovering why sumpweed disappeared while its counterpart remained could help scientists reveal what led to present-day agriculture in the Americas. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2020/11/24/our-thanksgiving-menu-has-lost-few-crops/ Summary: It's interesting to see how diet has changed with the disappearance of certain crops. I wonder if we have yet to discover "lost" ancient crops. Edited November 2, 2021 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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