The Diaspora of Food
by Stephen Brooks, Punta Mona, Costa Rica on 07.30.08
Stephen Brooks is the co-founder of Kopali Organics and a correspondent for Planet Green’s G Word .
Isn’t it crazy to think that everything we eat or use that comes from plants at one time grew completely wild? That’s right, rice, corn, beans, cotton, oranges, tomatoes… everything came from somewhere on the earth and grew there wild. It’s somewhat hard to believe.
Then, in the past several thousand years, humans selected the ones they liked best and found most useful and began selecting the best varieties of each. For example, I have this friend down in Costa Rica that recently planted 2000 rambutan trees (they are like a hairy lychee). He waited for four years until they all began to bear fruit and tasted the fruit from all of them. He selected the five trees he thought had the best fruit and then cut down 1,995 of them. He then grafted from those five best trees and refilled the plantation with the selected varieties. This type of plant selection went on all over the world and civilizations improved their favorite foods and plants. These different varieties of plants were selected for many reasons, ranging from the fewest seeds to the sweetest pulp, from the fluffiest cotton bunches to the brightest colored oranges. Varieties were selected for a whole range of reasons. Today, unfortunately, one of the most important traits plant growers strive for is shelf life, which is often more important than even taste.
The word diaspora means the dispersion or migration from a country or region and usually refers to the leaving of an ethnic group from their homeland. Here we are talking about different plants, their geographical origins and how and why they moved around the world. The most common movements happened as cultures began spreading to different areas of the world, during which time they often brought their favorite plants with them. Its interesting as well as fun to go on plant walks in port towns where it is evident that sailors from all over the world have briefly stopped in and spread seeds of their favorite foods. Let’s follow a few great examples of this movement.
The ancient Polynesians over 1000 years ago would set sail out into the open ocean on their long canoes seeking out new lands. Along with the necessities needed on the journey, such as food and fresh water, they would always pack shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers and all of life's vital needs. This included food bearing plants such as taro, banana, coconut and breadfruit, bamboo for building, turmeric and noni for healing, and kava kava for recreational use. Their relationship with these plants was deep. Bringing them along made inhabiting these far away lands more hospitable.
Another interesting example of plant diaspora is in the many plants that moved with the African slaves into the Caribbean Islands and eastern coast of Central America. In Costa Rica, for example, as you descend into the Caribbean lowlands from San Jose, the people are mostly descendants of Jamaica and Barbados and the plants and markets are full of foods brought with the slave trade from Africa via the Caribbean and then brought them to Costa Rica. These plants include such delights as breadfruit, ackee and tropical yams. They are rarely seen in other parts of Costa Rica outside of this region. Captain William Bligh, on his famous voyage of the “Bounty”, brought many of these foods to the Caribbean islands, with the intent of being able to feed slaves cheapily and easily.
Like the fascinating movement of people and cultures around the world and their indoctrination into new lands, foods also go through trials in their new locales. Some have thrived and spread quickly into the landscape, and others would perish and not survive in these new conditions. It is a fun exercise to follow plants back to their origin and learn about their journeys and introductions into new lands. You can start with coffee and its birthplace in……….. Ethiopia. ☺
Stephen Brooks is a jungle tropical fruit farmer in Costa Rica, the co-founder of Kopali Organics and is the Food Field Reporter on Planet Green's G Word.
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Actually, a minor correction, corn did originally grow wild but was supposed to die out pretty quickly. My environmental science professor told the class that if humans disappeared from the face of the earth, corn would disappear in a matter of years as well, because the variation we grow today that feeds a lot of the world was a genetic mutation that doesn't propagate very easily. In fact, if it wasn't for humans who stumbled upon it, who then plant it every year for a new harvest, natural selection should have weeded it out.
He's done some studies in Mexico and other Latin American countries, where corn planting traditionally was a religious practice, and that almost across the whole board, corn was considered a gift from the gods themselves.
Interesting stuff, really. I haven't really cross checked it, but my professor was pretty well known and seemed very credible so I trust him.
wow, amazing info. the anthropology of food. quick question: where does sugar come from, and can we send it back???
I'm pretty sure your professor was speaking about conventional corn, not heritage varieties which have existed before we got here. The kind I plant has made its way all around my yard with no problems. It's smaller than your traditional corn and slower to grow but it certainly can survive on its own.
It's so interesting how food crops have been spread around the world!
I think it's also a really important lesson for modern day humans to learn how indigenous cultures have done this in a sustainable manner, one that has allowed them to live healthily in conjunction with the planet and its vital resources, for thousands of years.
Great topic!
As Paul Hawken states in "Blessed Unrest"
"Agriculture is culture, and the Americas have been cultured—one might say gardened—for a long time. Beginning in the Pleistocene, humans have altered the land to the benefit of themselves and other species. If you walk into a primary Amazonian forest with an ethnobotanist, you will find a landscape that has been transformed over thousands of years by the intervention of the native population. Forests were converted into silvicultural gardens (what is called agroforestry today), a dynamic and enduring relationship that supplied a year-round crop of medicines, fibers, fruits, and animals.”
Oh, and on the corn topic---
Corn was originally a plant that was more similar to a grass than what we presently know as corn. It has been selected, and then bred and bred to form what we know as conventional corn (or commodity corn). In what we call "conventional corn", the male and female parts are so far apart than it can't propagate itself very easily. Maybe since the heritage varieties are smaller, those sex parts are closer together? And since it's wind pollinated, as long as the animals are dispersing it in clumps that are close enough for the wind to blow pollen onto the tassles between stalks, it should be able to propagate... right?
Just some brainstorming....
Another relevant (and enjoyable) read would be Michael Pollan's "The Botany of Desire," in which he traces the natural history of four plants.
It probably was traditional corn. Obviously, corn had to come from somewhere, but he said that many scientists still debate to this day where it exactly came from. Interesting stuff.
And also ironic that the corn that we put in so many processed foods is so dependent on us. Symbiotic almost; that strain of corn can't live without us, and according to some people, we couldn't live without it either. :)
you're a great teacher Stephen.
very interesting.
rock on!
Nice article. I would like to point out that there are still wild harvested produce, such as certain herbs, berries, and chile peppers such as chiltepins. I don't think the author meant to say that there are no wild stains of fruit or veges, but it kind of comes across that way.
Hybridizing is a fascinating topic, and I encourage everyone to learn more about the way your food (organic or not) is grown. As a very small food producer, I have a great respect for all farmers, and also know that they have got to be very smart, clever and resourceful.
Because I am passionate about heirloom and open-pollinated seeds and plants I found your article so interesting. I grow and save a couple of historic corn varieties, but most of my interest is in tomatoes and other common garden veggies.
Facinating topic.
Going back to corn: another Michael Pollan book that really gets into corn and all its implications is his "The Omnivore's Dilemma". Pretty fascinating read.