Between 1492 and 1650, perhaps 90 percent of the first Americans had died. The Columbian Exchange brought horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs to the Americas. Altogether, the suite of domesticated animals from Eurasia brought a biological, economic, and social revolution to the Americas.

And the foods – potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, maize, cacao, sunflower, and squash – that were taken back by explorers to the Old World changed Europe, their culture, and their economy forever.

By the 18th century, they were cultivated and consumed widely in Europe and had become important crops in both India and North America. Potatoes eventually became an important staple of the diet in much of Europe, contributing to an estimated 25% of the population growth in Afro-Eurasia between 1700 and 1900.

The exchange introduced a wide range of new calorically rich staple crops to the Old World—namely potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and cassava. The primary benefit of the New World staples was that they could be grown in Old World climates that were unsuitable for the cultivation of Old World staples.

salt came from rock salt which came from the old world. Shortening comes from a soild fat similiar to butter which came form the old world.

Foods That Originated in the New World: artichokes, avocados, beans (kidney and lima), black walnuts, blueberries, cacao (cocoa/chocolate), cashews, cassava, chestnuts, corn (maize), crab apples, cranberries, gourds, hickory nuts, onions, papayas, peanuts, pecans, peppers (bell peppers, chili peppers), pineapples.

Most researchers agree the onion has been cultivated for 5000 years or more. Since onions grew wild in various regions, they were probably consumed for thousands of years and domesticated simultaneously all over the world.

Enter your search terms: Black pepper (Piper nigrum), the true pepper, is economically the most important species of the pantropical pepper family (Piperaceae). It is native to Java, whence it was introduced into other tropical countries.

Foods That Originated in the Old World: apples, bananas, beans (some varieties), beets, broccoli, carrots, cattle (beef), cauliflower, celery, cheese, cherries, chickens, chickpeas, cinnamon, coffee, cows, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger, grapes, honey (honey bees), lemons, lettuce, limes, mangos, oats, okra.

European colonists and slaves from Africa introduced the watermelon to the New World. Spanish settlers were growing it in Florida in 1576, and it was being grown in Massachusetts by 1629, and by 1650 was being cultivated in Peru, Brazil and Panama.

When Europeans first touched the shores of the Americas, Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips had not traveled west across the Atlantic, and New World crops such as maize, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and manioc had not traveled east to Europe.

Parsley is native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and western Asia. According to ancient Greek legend, parsley sprang from the blood shed by the fallen hero Archemorus when he was eaten by serpents. The ancient Greeks held the plant sacred, and parsley was never placed on their tables.

Parsley, (Petroselinum crispum), hardy biennial herb of the family Apiaceae, or Umbelliferae, native to Mediterranean lands. Parsley leaves were used by the ancient Greeks and Romans as a flavouring and garnish for foods.

The following is a list of some of the domesticated crops we owe to the original peoples of the New World.

• Amaranth. amaranth. Amaranth.
• Avocado. avocados. Avocado fruits (Persea americana).
• Beans. green bean.
• Cacao. cacao fruits.
• Cassava. cassava.
• Chia. chia seeds.
• Corn (Maize) corn.
• Papaya. papaya tree.

The turkey was a domesticated animal that came from The New World (Americas), to the Old World (Afro-Eurasia.) The Turkey was an important food source throughout The New World.

Wheat flour is, so far as can be determined, approximately as old as wheat — which was first domesticated in Neolithic Turkey. Definitely old-world.

Co-author William Lipe of Washington State University explained that before the Native Americans started to raise turkeys, they would make blankets by wrapping strips of rabbit skin – with fur attached – around cords.