The text next to this printed illustration explains that maize “is exceedingly beneficial to the healthy and sick alike; it is easy to cultivate, it grows abundantly and without any risk almost anywhere it is planted, and it is hardly susceptible to damage from drought and the rigors of climate; by means of this grain it is possible to relieve hunger and all its ills” (Varey 2000:111).
Before the Spanish invasion, Mesoamerica was home to a large and thriving population. This was possible thanks to agricultural methods that promoted intensive and drought-proof crop yields, in particular the use of chinampas, planting areas built on lakes that produced up to seven crops per year. Mesoamerican food plants were also key to such demographic success. Maize, for example, is highly nutritious, providing large amounts of carbohydrates in a short growing season. In fact, when maize was introduced to Europe, it fueled a population explosion.
Maize was one of many American food plants that was globalized after the colonial encounter. Tomato, cacao, chili, vanilla, pineapple, passion fruit, and grenadine are just a few of the American plants that have become staples of cuisines worldwide. The health benefits of American food plants continue to be uncovered: the recent health-food craze has introduced to the world plants that have been consumed by Amerindians for centuries, like chia, spirulina, and amaranth.
Image Source
- Francisco Hernández. Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus. 1648. P. 243. Courtesy of HathiTrust.
Further Reading
- Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. “The Aztec Diet: Food Sources and Their Nutritional Value.” In Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition, 98–119. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1990.
- Varey, Simon, ed. The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández. Translated by Rafael Chabrán, Cynthia L. Chamberlin, and Simon Varey. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000.
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