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Prehistoric & Early Historic Food Crop Diversity

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Prehistoric & Early Historic Food Crop Diversity PREHISTORIC & EARLY HISTORIC FOOD CROP DIVERSITY NOURISHING TUCSON, A UNESCO CITY OF GASTRONOMY Edited by Gary Paul Nabhan and Julia Glennon With contributions from Karen Adams, Maribel Alvarez, Martha Ames Burgess, Gay Chanler, Dena Cowan, Michael Diehl, Suzanne Fish, Jesus Garcia, Wendy Hodgson, Jonathan Mabry, Charles Miksicek, Carolyn Niethammer, Roger Pfeuffer, Amadeo Rea, and Rafael Routson de Granade April 2016 Green Paper #2 of the Center for Regional Food Studies University of Arizona College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Tucson, Arizona www.foodstudies.arizona.edu www.azfoodstudies.com Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Endowment to the Southwest Center INTRODUCTION In December 2015, Tucson, Arizona joined the UNESCO Creave Cies Network as the first City of Gastronomy designated in the U.S. In the months that followed, local, naonal and internaonal aenon was directed to the 4100 year anquity of food culvaon documented in the Tucson Basin —an agricultural tradion as long or longer than that in any metro area north of Mexico. In addion, the UNESCO designaon generated renewed interest in the remarkable survival of diverse food crops and the tradional culinary and horcultural knowledge associated with them. Both the crops themselves and me-tried knowledge for managing them may have enhanced relevance to our food security in the face of climate change. On the same day as the UNESCO designaon, the University of Arizona established the Center of Regional Food Studies to serve as the college’s official partner to the City of Tucson in documenng, researching and educang the public regarding Tucson’s historic foodways and recent innovaons in its food systems. What beer starng place that to remind Tucson’s cizenry and visitors of the disncve food crop species and GRAINS AND LEGUMES variees of its “foodsheD” that underlie the culinary history of the region? AMARANTH, ALEGRIA, GUEGI, HUATLE (Amaranthus cruentus and A. hypochondriacus). The many social, cultural and economic issues Domescated over four thousand years ago in relang to concepts of heritage foods, heirloom tropical Mexico, amaranths were traded northward vegetables and local food sovereignty remain and grown in the Tucson Basin by late prehistoric highly debated and for some, deeply contested. For mes. These mul-purpose crops produce a small that reason, we have not aempted to iconize or cereal-like grain that is rich in lysine, tender, reify any concept of “heritage” or “heirloom crop” spinach-like leaves rich in calcium and iron, and in in this publicaon that might inadvertently under- some cases, red dyes used in coloring corn breads value, ignore or dismiss the many other such as piki wafers. Old variees remain expressions of biological and cultural diversity in vulnerable. our food system. The aached descripons and summary table presented here are but the first BARLEY, CEBADA (Hordeum pusillum and H. steps in Tucson’s own assessment of how to beer vulgare). Prehistorically, a semi-domescated idenfy, safeguard, take pride and pleasure in the lile-leaf barley (Hordeum pusillum) was grown in many horcultural and culinary assessments that it both Arizona and New Mexico. The culvated has historically shared with surrounding forms once grown in the Tucson Basin are now communies and cultures. Many of these assets exnct north of the border, although Nabhan are not restricted to the Tucson Basin, and deserve found weedy forms sll growing in the floodwater aenon and care wherever and with whomever fields of the western O’odham in the 1980s. The they occur. domescated barley from Asia (Hordeum vulgare) was introduced to San Gabriel on the Rio Grande We welcome your comments, suggesons and near present-day San Juan Pueblo in 1600, and to correcons to this preliminary inventory. the fields on the Santa Cruz floodplain surrounding the mission of Tumacacori, Arizona in 1701. In both watersheds, barley was grown as a grain for breads and porridges, and for animal feed, well into the 1950s.The original variees introduced by the Spanish may now be exnct. 2 GRAIN CHENOPOD, HUAZONTLE (Chenopodium SORGHUM, SORGO, MILOMAIZ, HEGARI (Sorghum berlandieri). Grown prehistorically in the U.S. bicolor). Originally from Africa, this mul-purpose Southwest and Mexico, this plant produces leafy crop was introduced to the Tucson Basin in the greens, an edible flower stalk with a flavor early 1800s as a forage, broom fiber, grain, sugar, reminiscent of Brussel sprouts, and a seed ground and syrup. This heat-and-drought hardy plant is into a quinoa-like flour. Its seeds recovered from prolific. The stalks are chewed or pressed for their archaeological sites in the Tucson area are difficult sweet juices, and Navajos connue to make to tell from its wild relave, lambsquarters, but beauful juniper-handled brooms from their seed both have likely been used since the mid- to late- stalks. Hegari has become increasingly rare as prehistoric eras. According to Amadeo Rea, it was other improved variees replace it. grown by the River Pima of central Arizona into the late nineteenth century, when the irrigaon WHEAT, TRIGO (Tricum aesvum). Bread wheats supplies were usurped by Mormons upstream. It were introduced from the Mediterranean to remains in culvaon in the Sierra Madre foothills Sonora by 1630 and to southern Arizona around of western Chihuahua, but can be considered 1690. They were eagerly adopted as the major endangered there and exnct north of the border. winter crop in Baja California, then Sonora, California, and Arizona, not replacing but CORN/MAIZ (Zea mays) complemenng corn. White Sonora, a so white Probably domescated along the Rio Balsas of bread wheat, was planted in November or southern Mexico 8000-9000 years ago, corn December, and harvested in May or June. The reached the Tucson Basin 4100 years ago, before O’odham, Yoemem and neighboring Sonorans being grown at nearly any other known site in the developed enormous wheat flour torllas which present-day U.S. Corn has not only provided they wrapped around beans or meats before deep- staples and fermented beverages in the Tucson frying, creang the now world-famous Basin, but also has many ritual uses. Various kernel chimichanga. During the Civil War, the Gila and colors are selected for ritual symbolism and for Santa Cruz valley fields of the Pima and Maricopa feast foods, while their pollen is collected for O’odham produced millions of pounds of bread ceremonial and medicinal purposes. Some, like meat that supplied nearly all Yankee and Rebel Chapalote, went exnct north of the Mexican troops west of the Mississippi watershed with their border but have been reintroduced; the others are grain. Damming of rivers, usurpment of farmlands, increasingly rare and vulnerable. and demise of grinding mills has ended the tradional wheat era in the region. White Sonora, SONORAN PANICGRASS, SONORAN MILLET, SAGUI once rare, is on the rebound, as is Pima Club to a (Panicum hircaule var. sonorum). A golDen- lesser extent. seeded millet-like grain produced on mul-headed grass stems reaching three to four feet in height, FAVA BEAN, BROAD BEAN, HABA (Vicia faba). Sonoran panic-grass is a semi-domescated cereal These large-seeded legumes were introduced by unique to the U.S. /Mexico borderland states. the Spanish to the Southwest before 1630, and Prehistoric caches of the seeds have been found by were established around the missions of Santa Cruz archaeologists from the Colorado River all the way watershed by 1706. They were soon adopted by to the Santa Cruz near Tucson, in both Hohokam both indigenous and Hispanic farmers for cool and Patayan ruins. A few samples have been season agriculture. The large seeds are eaten both recovered archaeologically in the Tucson Basin. Its green and dry. Favas are efficient nitrogen fixers of flour is light, pleasant-tasng and excellent for all the annual legumes, making them a good cover tamales and torllas. Sagui was historically crop. Southwestern land races are now rare. culvated by Colorado River tribes of Arizona, Sonora, and Baja California, and by others in the Sierra Madre in Chihuahua and Sonora. The damming of the Colorado River drove it into exncon in the United States, but it has precariously persisted as a culvated grain among the Guarijio of Chihuahua. Endangered. 3 GARBANZO, CHICKPEA (Cicer arienum). These LIMA BEAN, FRIJOL ALUBIA, SIEVA (Phaseolus legumes, originally from the Ferle Crescent, were lunatus). Undoubtedly the most delicious lima introduced by the Spanish into the Southwest beans in North America, these desert land races along the Rio Grande by 1630 and spread to the have been culvated in the Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz and other watersheds by 1700. Nave Colorado watersheds since prehistoric mes. These Americans and Hispanics historically ate the beans lima variees are broad, flat beans that are green and dried. Uncommon in the Southwest. colorfully moled. They are eaten ceremonially as sprouts in underground kivas, or the dried seeds COWPEA, BLACK-EYED PEA, YORIMUNI (Vigna are boiled and baked. These lima variees are unguiculata). Heat-tolerant legumes introduced to tolerant of salt and alkaline soils, and their the Tucson Basin by Padre Kino in 1690, cowpeas resistance to root-knot nematodes historically saved the Southern California lima bean industry are good producers in the low, drought-prone from dying due to this pest. All Sonoran Desert land deserts. They are eaten green (immature) in goat races are rare, and several merit endangered cheese soups, or dried, shelled, and boiled. The status, although the Pima and San Xavier O’odham O’odham dry pea has recently been revived by have begun efforts to revive their tradions. O’odham farmers associated with the San Xavier Co-op south of Tucson. The Chinese introduced PEA, CHICHARRO (Pisum savum). These winter yard long beans of this same species, selling them and spring legumes of Asia and the Mediterranean in the Tucson area between 1870 and 1930.
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