The History of Fruits & Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are a part of a healthy diet, but eating enough is sometimes a hassle. Regardless, fruits and vegetables play an important part in our nutrition, our heritage, and our history. Understanding the importance of fruits and vegetables may help you make wiser dietary choices and appreciate how easy it really is to get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet. Does this Spark an idea?
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Hunter-Gatherer
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The earliest humans spent the majority of their waking hours looking for food--that is hunting animals and gathering fruits and vegetables. Fruits, the fleshy portions of a plant which protect and nourish a seed, were common only in the springtime, though some fruits (such as apples) did mature later. Vegetables, on the other hand, are the stems, leaves, or roots of plants and could be harvested almost year 'round. Nevertheless, fruits and vegetables were by no means common or consistent in the pre-historical lives of human beings.
Early Cultivation
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Early civilizations, such as Sumerians, Babylonians, Greeks and Chinese, cultivated a variety of fruits and vegetables both for their nutritional value and also because of their aesthetic value. Figs and dates, for example, became a staple of the diet of many city-dwellers in ancient Mesopotamia while the Greeks cultivatef grapes both for eating and for wine.
Vegetables such as onions, garlic and radishes were cultivated in early Egyptian society as part of the average diet and to provide flavor for other dishes.
Still, preservation was sometimes problematic; in some cultures fruits were dried and stored for winter, but rarely lasted until spring. -
Medieval Vegetables
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For the medieval European, tubers usually formed the majority of vegetable intake; both because they were relatively plentiful and because they stored well after being harvested.
Fruits, such as pears, grew wild in early medieval Britain but, along with apples, became one of the most successful cultivated fruits in Europe. Romans imported grapes (for making wine) to the British Isles and into Germany; those fruits have flourished ever since.
Europeans developed a myriad of techniques to preserve fruits and vegetables, the most common being pickling and fermenting. Grapes fermented into wine or apples and honey fermented into mead while vegetables such as onions and beets could be pickled to prevent decay and vermin infestation.
Early Modern Fruits and Vegetables
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In 1747, after much trial and error, Dr. James Lind discovered that if English sailors ate citrus fruits, they would not be disabled by scurvy. The Royal Navy quickly instituted a policy of requiring sailors to eat citrus, usually in the form of limes, which quickly earned the English the nickname of "Limeys."
Vegetables from the New World, such as potatoes and corn, were rare delicacies to the Europeans and were quickly adopted into the European diet.
Traditional methods of preservation were used well into the 20th century to preserve fruits and vegetables during winter months. During the early 19th century canning was developed by the French to keep Napoleon's army well fed and on the move.
Freezing Vegetables
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After spending several years in Labrador, Canada, Clarence Birdseye perfected the art of quick-freezing fruits and vegetables. Though simple at first glance, freezing fruits and vegetables often resulted in the formation of ice crystals within the fruit which often destroyed its flavor and nutritional content. Birdseye, however, noticed that food exposed to the extreme cold of Labrador's intense winters did not share these properties. In 1923, Birdseye perfected his technique and began inducing grocers to carry refrigerated display cases to store his quick-frozen fruits and vegetables. Under the new system, a fruit or vegetable could be picked and processed in spring and still enjoyed as near-fresh in the middle of winter.
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