Spotlight on Students: Origins of Agriculture

This post highlights the work required of my SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology students. Students were given the opportunity to research and identify the origins of agricultural products (be it plants or animals) from one of their favorite meals. Several students were given the opportunity to have their exemplary work featured on the blog, and the students who provided permission have their work featured here in this and the following blog posts. Please show your appreciation for their work through the comments.

 

Figure 1: Miso Soup (Google Images)

By: Ryota Haga

My favorite food is Miso soup (Figure 1). Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup, consisting primarily of miso, tofu, seaweed (Wakame) and scallions. Miso soup has a very long history, dating back to around 1180 (Haruka, 2023). Soybeans, the main ingredient of Miso soup, originated in China about 3,000 years ago. Originally, wild soybeans were very small and had low nutritional value. Domestication focused on increasing seed size, oil content, and protein content. Soybeans can be fermented to make miso, and soy milk can be curdled to make tofu. Cultivated soybeans (Glycine Max) are the raw material for miso and tofu and are essential for Miso soup. 

Next, seaweed (wakame), an essential ingredient in Miso soup, has been harvested for thousands of years primarily in the coastal regions of East Asia. Domestication in Japan began about 1,500 years ago (Healatho, 2022). Originally, seaweed (wakame) was only harvested as a wild crop, which gave it a distinctive rocky flavor and unstable yield, but selective cultivation has greatly improved its yield, taste, and texture, making it much more suitable for cooking than wild. Seaweed (wakame) is a cultivated version of wild seaweed. 

The last one is green onions. Green onions are also an absolute must for Miso soup. It is said that green onions originated in Central Asia, but it is not known exactly where ( 田中農場日誌編集部 , 2024). They spread to East Asia, including Japan, through trade. Domesticated about 2,000 years ago, it initially had a wild taste, which has now changed to selective breeding focused on developing a milder taste, faster growth, and larger bulb size than the original. The cultivated green onion, Allium fistulosum, is now an important ingredient in Miso soup. 

The domestication of the ingredients of my favorite Miso soup reflects the broader transition from foraging to farming in East Asia, leading to the cultivation of crops better suited to local tastes and nutritional needs. These changes in ingredients represented major biological shifts - increased size, increased nutritional value, and improved flavor - that contributed significantly to the development of miso soup as a staple of Japanese cuisine.

Work Cited

Haruka. (2023a, February 8). お味噌汁は長い歴史のある私たちのソウルフード. ローカルガイド・ビズ. https://ja.localguide.biz/miso-soup-japanese-soul-food/ 

田中農場日誌集部                    田中農場のスタッフにより、お米や野菜の豆知識、おすすめレシピ、日々の農場の様子などを発信しています。鳥取から全国のみなさまへ「作物本来のおいしさ」をお届けできるように頑張っています！. (2024, January 30). 【ネギの歴史と種類】日本のネギの特徴や人気の地方品種を解説！: 田中農場日誌｜鳥取県八頭町でおいしいお米と野菜を育てる農場スタッフブログ. 田中農場日誌｜鳥取県八頭町でおいしいお米と野菜を育てる農場スタッフブログ | 鳥取県八頭町の田中農場のスタッフブログ. https://www.farm-tanaka.jp/blog/2021/01/20/history-of-greenonions/ 

Healatho. (2022, May 25). １分で分かる！ワカメの歴史. HEALATHO 京都山城. https://healatho.com/wakamehistory/

Glycine max - plant finder. (n.d.-b). https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=280548&isprofile=0&chr=19

せとうちネット. 環境省_せとうちネット：ワカメ. (n.d.). https://www.env.go.jp/water/heisa/heisa_net/setouchiNet/seto/g1/g1chapter1/ikimono/wakame.html

No record - useful tropical plants. (n.d.). https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Allium%2Bfistulosum

Figure 2: California Roll (Google Images)

By: Macie Goetz

My favorite food is a California Roll (Figure 2). A California Roll is a sushi dish. This is composed of sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, mayonnaise, crab (or imitation crab), nori, and sushi rice vinegar. As many people know, sushi tends to be a Chinese dish. The rice originates from the Oryza rufipogon plant, which was originally from China (Callaway). There is also rice vinegar. The origin of this is the same as the rice listed above.

Farmers chose certain traits they liked from the plant and cultivated this plant to favor what was wanted from it. The avocado in the food comes from a completely different part of the world though. It is thought to be that avocados originated from Africa and made their way to N. America (Blakemore). While avocados grow on trees they were also still cultivated to produce larger fruit. 

Just like many fruits and vegetables cucumbers have been grown and altered by people for a long time. Cucumbers are believed to originate from India, coming from the plant Cucumis sativus (Faizal). 

Next is mayonnaise, and this itself has been used for many purposes such as a binder or as a sauce used to spread on bread for a sandwich etc., but the origin is somewhat a mystery. According to Michael La Corte in their article, “French marshal Duc de Richelieu ate an early version of mayonnaise in Minorca, Spain in the mid-1700's and brought it home, calling it "Mahonnaise" after Mahón, the town where he consumed it” (La Corte). 

Imitation crab and real crab are two completely different things. The imitation crab actually comes from a mixture of fish and/or shrimp, but real crab is an actual animal that is not domesticated but wild-caught.  According to Wild Crab, “ Wild crab is caught in the wild and is considered to be the more traditional and authentic type of crab. These crabs live in their natural habitats, such as oceans, bays, and estuaries, and are caught using fishing methods like pots, traps, and dredges” (Wild Crab). 

Nori is a sheet of dried seaweed. This originated from “the human cultivation of Nori began only in the late 1600s with the rise of Tokugawa leyasu… … the stakes evolved into a more efficient horizontal net system along the ocean surface. Although these fishermen may not have realized it, they had started Nori agriculture, which would continue to grow and develop for years to come” (Franko). 

Finally, as a whole the California Roll is not directly from China as a traditional dish but was made here in the United States.

Blakemore, Erin. “The Illustrious History of the Avocado - JSTOR DAILY.” JSTOR Daily, JSTOR, 18 May 2017, daily.jstor.org/the-illustrious-history-of-the-avocado/. 

Callaway, Ewen. “Domestication: The Birth of Rice.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 29 Oct. 2014, www.nature.com/articles/514S58a#:~:text=Oryza%20rufipogon%2C%20the%20Asian%20wild%20grass%20that%20is,some%20modern%20rice%20growers%20consider%20it%20a%20pest. 

Faizal, Mohammed. “All about Cucumbers: From Origins to Uses.” Rise Gardens, Rise Gardens, 11 July 2023, risegardens.com/blogs/communitygarden/all-about-cucumbers-from-origins-to-uses#:~:text=The%20humble%20cucumber%2C%20known%20scientifically%20as%20Cucumis%20sativus%2C,where%20wild%20varieties%20can%20still%20be%20found%20today. 

Franco, JC, and Foodrinke Team. “Exploring Nori’s Legacy: 20 Insights from Its History.” Foodrinke, 10 Mar. 2024, www.foodrinke.com/history-of-nori-dried-seaweed-major-moments-events-and-facts/. 

La Corte, Michael. “The Mysterious Origins of Mayonnaise.” Mashed, Mashed, 30 Apr. 2021, www.mashed.com/397378/the-mysterious-origins-of-mayonnaise/. 

“Wild Crab vs. Farmed Crab: What’s the Difference?” Wild Crab, www.wild-crab.com/blog/wild-crab-vs-farmed-crab-whats-the-difference/#:~:text=Wild%20Crab%3A%20Wild%20crab%20is%20caught%20in%20the,using%20fishing%20methods%20like%20pots%2C%20traps%2C%20and%20dredges. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.