Random Most Historically Important Foodstuffs (18 items)

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  (#10) Victory Gardens Helped Win World War II

  During the second World War, America was rationing certain fundamental foods in order to ensure they had enough to feed their population and their soldiers. Fruits and vegetables were in short supply, so the government asked its citizens to grow their own. More than 20 million Americans started "Victory Gardens" in backyards and on rooftops.
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  (#11) Banana

  The most common banana today, the Great Cavendish, is not the banana your parents and grandparents grew up eating. It was adopted when a blight destroyed the beloved (and much tastier) Gros Michael bananas that were enjoyed around the world. Unfortunately, it seems the same thing is happening to the Cavendish. Without another type of banana in the world, that might mean the end of the fruit as we know it.
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  (#3) Salt

  The original spice, salt was not only loved but needed in a daily diet, as a preservative, and as an antiseptic. It was so sought after that it's actually been used as a currency. The world "salary" actually comes from a time when workers were paid in salt. It has also set up many areas as economic powers, such as areas of France and the city of Venice, which had access to a great deal of salt they could sell.
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  (#4) Potatoes

  Potatoes are a versatile and filling vegetable. It was easy to grow in Ireland, to the point where most of the population depended on the crop for their diet. In the mid 1800s, however, a blight wiped out the crop which led to over a million people dying of starvation. It's become a lesson in crop diversification ever since.
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  (#9) Tea

  Tea was so popular in the colonial world, it literally led to corporate espionage and political revolutions. By the 17th century, the tea had become a staple of British culture which led to a rivalry between European and Chinese manufacturers. Many years later, a heavy tax on tea drove the American colonies to commit one of the inciting incidents of the American Revolution - the Boston Tea Party.
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  (#15) Bt Corn Will End Insecticides

  Crop eating insects have long been the bane of the farmer's existence. The advent of genetically modified crops has allowed for a new generation of plants that are highly resistant to insects. Bt corn contains a special protein that targets certain insects that eat corn crops, all while being completely harmless to everything else. No more spray-on insecticides!

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