by Marla Koss
Where in the Ancient World did these crops originate?
(Marla Koss provides a pop quiz, in case you’re in want of a pleasant time-waster.)
Match these 8 regions of the world A through H to crop groupings 1 through 8 below. Note: while researching, we found that online entities sometimes disagree on specific crop origins, but we tried to go deeper and fell down a few rabbit holes in the process. Nevertheless, we feel we’ve found the best answers.
A. CENTRAL ASIA (the “-stan” countries + a bit of Russia) & the CAUCASUS REGION (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia + Southern Russia)
B. FERTILE CRESCENT (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine + part of Egypt) / MIDDLE EAST (Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., and Egypt)
C. EASTERN ASIA (China, Japan and Korea)
D. INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
E. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
F. U.S. / CANADA
G. MEXICO / CENTRAL AMERICA / SOUTH AMERICA
H. EUROPE
1. Persimmons, peaches, chestnuts and tea.
2. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and pecans.
3. Peanuts, cacao beans, pineapple and avocados.
4. Limes, lemons, mangoes, muskmelons and oranges.
5. Watermelons, papayas, coffee beans and tamarind.
6. Figs, apricots, pomegranates, apples and walnuts.
7. Wheat, dates, olives, grapes and hazelnuts.
8. Beets, cabbage, parsnips, currants and gooseberries.
ANSWERS:
1 C
2 F
3 G
4 D
5 E
6 A
7 B
8 H