Food is much more than mere nourishment. It is a valuable historical source. Food offers insight into many larger historical processes. We can learn how Columbus’s voyages altered global eating habits. We can examine the very different diets that developed among colonists in New England, in the southern colonies, and in the backwoods. We can see how immigration introduced new foods into the American diet. We can also learn how industrialization drastically altered the kinds of foods Americans eat.

Questions to think about:

1. Columbus’s voyages of discovery brought three worlds together: Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Which foods were introduced into Africa? Into the Americas? Into Europe? What impact did these foods have on population growth?

2. Various peoples used foods in very different ways. How was the potato used in Ireland and in Russia? How was corn used in the American colonies and in England? How had chocolate been used in the New World prior to 1492?

3. Discuss the significance of the food stuffs grown with slave labor: sugar cane, coffee, chocolate?

4. Why is Connecticut known as the “Nutmeg State,” when no nutmegs are grown there?

5. What were some of the differences in foodways in New England, the southern colonies, and the backwoods? How would you account for these differences?

6. What new foods and preparation techniques did German immigrants introduce into the United States during the nineteenth century?

7. What was the impact of industrialization upon the American diet?