On My Plate: Pecans
"Pecans were first cultivated in North America in the 1770s. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had pecan trees on their farms in Virginia."
James Rubenstein
Valentine’s Day Chocolate
"The consumption of chocolate originated in Latin America as a beverage around 4,000 years ago. The Spanish conquerors took chocolate back to Europe in the sixteenth century, adding sugar to make the drink less bitter."
On My Plate: Oatmeal
"Ohio is the birthplace of oatmeal in the United States. Ferdinand Schumacher founded the German Mills American Oatmeal Company in Akron around 1855."
On My Plate: Chili
"San Antonio claims credit for first making chili as we know it. Beginning in the 1880s, women known at the time as Chili Queens sold what they named “bowls o’red” in San Antonio’s market."
On My Plate: Lettuce
"Lettuce grew wild in Southwest Asia and was first harvested to obtain oil from the seeds. The ancient Egyptians domesticated it as a leafy food crop around 5,000 years ago."
On My Plate: Bok Choy
"Grown at 7 Wonders Farm are two varieties of bok choy, one large and one small. The larger variety, known in English as standard bok choy, has firm, broad, thick, white stems that taste sweet and crunchy."
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