Native Crops Dominate the Thanksgiving Table

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, take note of the foods on your table. Many of our classic Thanksgiving dishes rely heavily on New World crops native to central, south and north America. Read on for a little Thanksgiving culinary history.

Beans
Garden beans, Phaseolus vulgaris, are one of the earliest cultivated plants, tracing their origins to Central and South America. Vining or climbing beans were an original member of the “Three-Sisters” – a companion planting of the first domesticated crops of maize, winter squash, and climbing beans. These became the three main agricultural crops used for trade and food for native North Americans. 

Green beans were once referred to as string beans due to the long fibrous thread along the pod seams. The first stringless green bean was developed in 1894 by Calvin Keeney who later became known as the “Father of the stringless bean”. Breeders continue to breed this stringless trait into modern genetics. Other desirable traits include dark green succulent pods, good bean flavor, concentrated fruit set, stress tolerance, and disease resistance. 

The common garden bean is anything but common! Green beans, aka ‘snap’ beans come in a variety of flavors, pod shapes, sizes, and a colorful pallet including shades of green, purple, yellow, and speckled bicolors. 

Corn

Abundant, adaptable and highly versatile, today’s sweet corn is woven into the fabric of our country’s heritage. But today’s corn plants are quite different from the original wild grass, called teosinte, cultivated by the native people of central Mexico 7,000 years ago. Through their cultivation and selection, corn eventually came to look like the brightly colored Indian corn we might use for decoration today.

Sweet corn comes in a variety of colors and sweetness levels; the most common colors are white, yellow, and bicolor (mix of yellow and white kernels).  But interestingly, kernel pigment color is not genetically linked to flavor, so no kernel color is sweeter than another.

From its origins in Mexico, corn cultivation gradually spread north to the southwestern United States. By about 1,000 years ago, corn cultivation had spread north and east, reaching the eastern woodlands of North America. By the time Europeans arrived, corn was a staple food for native people on the eastern seaboard and would certainly have been on the first Thanksgiving table.

Peppers

All peppers - scorching chiles to sweet bells – also originated in Central and South America. Archeological evidence in Mexico suggests that native peoples gathered wild peppers as far back as 7,000 BC; by 2,500 BC they were farming peppers.

Most peppers are green when unripe and turn yellow, orange, red, or brown when fully ripe. Individual types are considered most flavorful at different stages. Sweet bell peppers can be used green or after they develop color. Jalapeños and Serranos are preferable when green, and Cayenne types when red ripe.

For fresh eating, harvest stage is a matter of personal taste; for drying, fully ripe peppers are best. Harvest peppers once they feel firm and get a glossy sheen. Cut the fruit off with clippers, as the branches of pepper plants are brittle and break off readily.

Potatoes

The spuds we buy at the grocery store today are all domesticated cultivars of Solanum tuberosum, a plant native to the South American Andes mountains and cultivated by humans for about the last 8,000 years. They were a crucial food source for many native south and central America people, including the Incas.

Potatoes arrived in Europe in the mid-1500s and from there spread to northern and southern Europe and back to North America. Over time, selection and breeding has resulted in several common potato types, such as white, russet, red, yellow and many more. Potatoes are now the 4th most important food crop worldwide - after rice, wheat and corn. And what would Thanksgiving be without mashed potatoes?

Pumpkins and Squash

Finally, how can it even be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? Did you know, pumpkins, gourds, summer squash, winter squash and zucchini are all very closely related? Collectively referred to as “squash,” the Cucurbita genus has a rich history dating back over 8,000 years to Central and South America. About 4,000 years later, pumpkins and squash were considered primary agricultural crops of the ancient natives. 

Squash was introduced to Europe in the late 16th century, where it quickly became a popular food crop there as well, and continued to spread worldwide. Today, squash is enjoyed all over the world in both sweet and savory dishes, enchanting gardeners and foodies with their diversity in shapes, colors, and flavors. 

It's very appropriate these New World crops are primary features on our tables during this American holiday!

Portions of this article come from the National Garden Bureau, https://www.ngb.org, which provides this information as an educational service with no limitations on its use.