1. Food Plants

2. Modern Day Inuit - Greenland

3. Contemporary Hunter-Gatherers The San Bushmen

4. Torres Straits Islands

5. Origin of Domesticated Plants Wheat

6. Most domesticated food plants have been selected for: large plant parts soft edible tissue thick flesh with intense color fruits attached to tough stems

7. How much domestication? About 5000 species have been grown for human food – less than 1% of all plant species Today about 150 species are commercially grown for food (not including spices) About 50 very productive species supply almost all of our caloric needs

8. Benefits of Domestication 10,000 years ago, before agriculture began, the world’s total human population was about 5 million. There was one person for every 25 square kilometers. Today we have more than 7.24 billion people, with a density of just over 25 people per square kilometer

9. As agriculture developed humans selected for: 1. Plants that provide enough calories to meet our basic energy needs. This usually comes from cereal grain or root carbohydrates. 2. We also selected for a balanced nutritional intake - this tends to develop in any system where the cultivator eats and depends upon on what he/she grows.

10. Vavilov centers – centers of plant diversity and areas of origin for agriculture

11. Plants from Near East – Fertile Crescent barley (Hordeum vulgare) wheat (Triticum) lentils (Lens culinaris) peas (Pisum sativum) chickpeas or garbanzos (Cicer arietinum) olives (Olea europaea) dates (Phoenix dactylifera) grapes (Vitis vinifera) - Wine began to be made from the grapes and beer from the grains flax (Linum usitatissimum) – food and fiber

12. Barley

13. Lentils

14. Chickpeas

15. Date Palm

16. Flax

17. Plants from China, Far East Millet – several cereal grains Rice (Oryza sativa) Soybeans (Glycine max) Mango (Mangifera indica) Various kinds of citrus fruits (Citrus sp.) Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Bananas (Musa x paradisiaca)

18. Rice

19. Mango

20. Taro

21. Plants from Africa sorghum (Sorghum sp.) millet grains (several species) okra (Hibiscus esculentus) yams (Dioscrorea sp.) cotton (Gossypium sp.) Coffee (Coffea arabica)

22. Sorghum and Millet

23. Okra

24. Yams

25. Coffee

26. Plants from Mexico corn (Zea mays), kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) lima beans (P. lunatus) peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) cotton (developed independently from Africa) chili peppers (Capiscum sp.) tomatoes (Lycopersicon sp.) tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cacao (Theobroma cacao) pineapple (Ananas comosus) Pumpkins, squashes (Cucurbita sp.) avocados (Persea americana)

27. Kidney Beans

28. Peanut

29. Chili Peppers – Capiscum sp.

30. Pumpkins and Squashes

31. Theobroma cacoa

32. Plants from Peru potato (Solanum tuberosum and many related species) quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) tomatoes and peanuts may have really originated in Peru and then been taken to Mexico

33. Potato

34. Quinoa

35. Corn – Zea mays

36. Typical Corn Growth

37. Typical ear of corn

38. Variation in ear size and kernel color from Mexican landraces of corn

39. Zea mays subsp. mexicana Zea mays subsp. mays

40. Teosinte – Zea diploperennis

41. Ear of teosinte – Zea diploperennis

42. Teosinte vs. Corn Growth Teosinte Corn

43. Zea mays

44. Maize Types

45. Maize productivity Maize is tremendously productive - a typical Iowa cornfield will produce 3500 - 4000 g of carbon per meter squared per year - The most productive tropical rainforest or coastal salt marsh produce about 3500 g of carbon per meter squared per year

46. Maize productivity Maize is so valuable because it is productive across a huge range of conditions – temperate to tropical (following adaptation to different day lengths) Among modern cereal grains it is the most efficient in converting water and carbon dioxide into grains food However, it requires large amounts of nutrients and current high yields such as occur in farm land around here require the input of tremendous amounts of fertilizer

47. Cross section of corn leaf

48. Cross section of corn leaf showing C-4 pathway

49. The One Food Problem

50. Cliff House at Mesa Verde – circa 1200 AD

52. Beginnings of the Anasazi During their so-called Archaic Period (5500 - 100 BCE) the Anasazi were hunter-gatherers - they lived mostly on roasted seeds of Indian grass (Oryzopsis sp.), cattails (Typha lattifolia), salt bush (Atriplex canescens - Chenopodiaceae), and sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella - Polygonaceae); Rabbits and a few deer provided the bulk of the animal protein in the diet - they lived mostly in caves or in depressions with simple coverings made of juniper branches (Juniperus scopulorum - Cupressaceae)

53. Oryzopsis sp. – Indian ricegrass

54. Atriplex canescens - saltbush

55. Typha latifolia - cattail

56. Rumex acetosella – sheep sorrel

57. Changes to Anasazi life About 100 BCE, maize plants arrived and Anasazi life began to change - at first the Anasazi did not adopt maize except as a novelty About 100 BCE, Anasazi made a change to the so called Basket Maker II lifestyle in which they made baskets, sandals, and nets woven from yucca fibers (Yucca baccata - Agavaceae)

58. Yucca baccata

59. Anasazi yucca products

60. Basket Maker III Basket maker III was from about 400 - 700 AD - here they became much more agricultural - probably due to the arrival of beans Phaseolus vulgaris (pinto and kidney beans) and P. acutifolius (tepary or pavi beans) The Anasazi began to select maize varieties with larger ears and more productivity They also begin to experiment with irrigation and developed or acquired bows and arrows

61. Phaseolus vulgaris – pinto, kidney beans

62. Phaseolus acutifolius – tepary or pavi bean

63. Pueblo I Pueblo I lasted from 700-900 AD - here the Anasazi adopted an increasingly sedentary lifestyle with advances in basketry and pottery, cotton was used for cloth, dwellings were made of stone above ground with pit houses transformed into ceremonial kivas Large stores of grain made higher populations possible and also led to warfare and raiding for grain

64. Anasazi Runi

65. Pueblo II and III Pueblo II (900 - 1100 AD) and Pueblo III ( 1100 - 1300 AD) saw the development of even larger towns and cities, dwellings were built in cliffs for protection - made very sophisticated baskets and pottery, had highly developed irrigation systems - may have used captive turkeys for meat, feeding them on grain Then from 1276 to 1299 there was 23 years of continuous drought - the Anasazi ultimately abandoned their cities and moved south to better drainage areas - today their descendents survive as the Zuni, Hopi, and Rio Grande Pueblo tribes

66. Timeline of Anasazi culture

67. What the Anasazi Left

68. For Love of the Potato

69. The Potato Comes to Europe The potato came to Europe about 1565 - at first, most people in Europe, including the Irish, used the potato as a back up for grain production, but by the end of the 17th century, it had become an important winter food; by the mid-eighteenth century it was a general field crop and provided the staple diet of small farmers during most of the year

70. Benefits of the Potato

71. Van Gogh – The Potato Eaters

72. Ukrainian Food Potato PancakesBorsch

73. Potato Vodka

75. Young potato plant with early stage of late blight

76. Dried potato leaf infected with late blight – Phytophthora infestans

77. Potato tubers with Late Blight

78. Potato field infected with late blight – Infection started in center of field

79. Severity of blight and famine

80. Cartoon of Irish “Bogtrotters” circa 1840’s

81. Irish family digging Potatoes - 1847

82. Irish family potato dinner - 1846

83. Irish food riots - 1847

84. Irish food sent to England – 1847 or 1848

85. Lessons learned? “Whatever may be the misfortunes of Ireland, the potato is not implicated. It, on the contrary, has more than done its duty, in giving them bones and sinew cheap... There is no other crop equal to the potato in the power of sustaining life and health.” - Bain 1848