Sunday, May 29, 2022

Food Crop Staples

Two interesting prophecies in the Book of Mormon have impressive fulfillment in the agricultural commodities people and animals around the world consume every day. I am indebted to my friend, Tim S. Evans, for helping me understand just how important New World plant cultivars have become in the diets of billions of people worldwide.

1 Nephi 15:18 says the children of Lehi, as part of the House of Israel, will bless every person on earth in the latter days. 3 Nephi 24:12, echoing Malachi 3:12 but applied to the New World, says all nations will call the Americas blessed because they will be a delightsome land. One important way these prophecies are fulfilled is through the worldwide Columbian Exchange where plants and animals spread from the New World to the Old and vice versa. Some of the most important food crops on earth originated in the New World and have since become staples of life on our planet.

Corn, aka maize, Zea mays, originated in southern Mexico and underwent secondary domestication in southern Central America and northern South America. Today, 1.1 billion tons are produced every year and corn is the most important agricultural commodity on earth.

Corn, Number One Food Crop on Earth

Potatoes, Solanum tuberosum, originated in Peru. Today 370 million tons are produced every year. Potatoes are the fourth most important agricultural commodity on earth after corn, rice, and wheat.
Potatoes, Number Four Food Crop on Earth

Cassava, aka manioc, aka yuca, Manihot sp. originated in South America. Parenthetically, in the life sciences, the taxonomical abbreviation "sp." means "species" singular. Manihot is the species name, and many different varieties such as Manihot esculenta and Manihot pentaphylla exist. The taxonomical abbreviation "spp." means species plural. Today, 304 million tons of cassava are produced every year.
Cassava, Food Staple for 800 Million Africans

Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, originated in South America. Today, 187 million tons of tomatoes are produced every year.
Tomatoes, Important Food Crop in China and India

Sweet Potatoes, Ipomoea batatas, originated in Peru. Today, 92 million tons of sweet potatoes are produced every year.
Sweet Potatoes, Important Food Crop in China and Africa

The top 10 food crops on earth are corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, cassava, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains/bananas, and yams. The New World, aka Western Hemisphere, has 13% of the world's population and 27% of the world's land area, but it is the origin of 5 of the top 10 food crops on earth. Lehi's posterity has blessed every human on the planet and the Americas are a blessed, delightsome land.

Other important worldwide food crops that originated in the Americas include:
  • Peanuts, aka ground nuts, Arachis hypogaea, originated in South America. Today, 48 million tons of peanuts are produced every year.
  • Chili peppers, Capsicum sp., originated in Bolivia with primary domestication in Mexico. Today 45 million tons of chili peppers are produced every year.
  • Beans, Phaseolus spp., originated in Central and South America. Today 30 million tons are produced every year.
  • Squash/pumpkins, Cucurbita spp., originated in Central America. Today, 16 million tons are produced every year.
  • Cacao, Theobroma cacao, originated in South America. Today, 6 million tons are produced every year.
The name "maize" is an Anglicization of the Hispanicization "maíz" of the Taino Indian word "mahiz". Taino is the indigenous Caribbean language spoken on Cuba, Hispaniola (modern Haiti and Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, and the northern Lesser Antilles at European contact. The Taino were essentially exterminated in the Spanish Conquest and the Taino language today is extinct.
 
"Potato" in an Anglicization of the Hispanicization "patata" of the Taino Indian word "batata".

"Cassava" is an Anglicization of the Hispanicization "casabe" of the Taino Indian word "caçabi".

"Tomato" in an Anglicization of the Hispanicization "tomate" of the Nahuatl word "tomatl". Nahuatl is the language spoken by the Aztecs at European contact. It is the principal language within the Uto-Aztecan language family that includes Shoshoni (Idaho) on the north and Pipil (El Salvador) on the south. Ute, Comanche, Hopi, Piman, and Tarahumaran are all part of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Uto-Aztecan is of interest to students of the Book of Mormon because Brian D. Stubbs has found significant elements of Egyptian, Hebrew, and Aramaic in Uto-Aztecan. See the blog article "Uto-Aztecan" and the Evidence Central Evidence Summary #0131 entitled "Book of Mormon Evidence: Uto-Aztecan and Book of Mormon Languages". Stubbs 436 page 2015 book entitled Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan is in the Book of Mormon Central Archive.
Stubbs' 2016 popular piece Changes in Languages from Nephi to Now is available on Amazon.

Bon Appetit from the native American farmers who brought us corn on the cob, French fries, tapioca pudding, pizza, and sweet potato fries in addition to peanut butter, chile rellenos, pork and beans, pumpkin pie, and of course, chocolate.