26New World Vegetables
Italy didn't have tomatoes, India didn't have peppers, and Ireland didn’t have potatoes until the Americas were discovered. That same is true for squash, maize, peanuts, and common bean.
27. Celery was a very popular food in the 1800s through the early 1900s. It was the third most popular menu ingredient in New York City restaurants, behind coffee and tea. The celery cost more than caviar because it was so hard to cultivate in those days.
28. Before 1748 potatoes were considered hogs feed by French and the French Parliament banned cultivations as they thought potato plantations causes leprosy. Antoine Parmentier, a pharmacist changed all that through research and pioneering for potatoes to be accepted. He also placed armed guards around his potato fields, instructing the guards to accept all bribes and allow people to “steal” the crop. Similar strategies were followed by monarchs throughout Europe to encourage potato consumption.
29. A drink made of ground orchid tubers named saloop was a popular 18th century alternative to coffee or tea until it became rumored to cure venereal disease. After that drinking it in public became shameful.
30. Some people greatly dislike coriander (cilantro), saying that it smells like soap and tastes like crushed bugs. This reaction has been linked to a set of genes in the human genome with up to 10% of the human population having this genetic disposition.
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31Californian Food Basket
The state of California produces half of the fruit and vegetables consumed in the US, as well as 99% of artichokes and walnuts and 95% of garlic. If California's economy were counted separately from the rest of the USA, it would be the fifth-largest economy in the world and agriculture constitutes only about 2% of California’s economy.
32. The reason Popeye eats spinach is because of an error in the calculation of its iron content by chemist Erich von Wolf in 1870. He misplaced a decimal point, recording iron as having 35mg of iron per 100g, instead of its true value of 3.5mg/100g. The former is equal to eating part of a paperclip.
33. Carrots are orange for political reasons. In the 17th century, Dutch growers cultivated orange carrots as a tribute to William of Orange. Before this, they were mostly yellow, white or purple.
34. Onions are the only commodity banned from futures trading in the United States. The Onion Futures Act was passed in 1958 a man named Vincent Kosuga acquired so much power that at one point he controlled 98% of onions in America. Farmers and buyers were so angry that Eisenhower banned the entire market.
35. About 95% of the world’s food needs are provided by just 30 species of plants. At least 12,650 names of edible species have been compiled so far.
