National Rice Month is Almost Here
The first slaves were brought to the Caribbean by Portuguese traders in 1502, beginning the transport of African farmers to the Americas in numbers that ultimately would reach about 10 million people. ( Only six percent of these lived in North America.)
Settlers early on had killed off the native Caribbeans, and the grazing animals they introduced to the islands soon reduced native vegetation to rubble. The solution? Grow sugar cane, an import from Asia that may have started life as a wild plant in New Guinea. Problem? No workers for this intensive, hands-on crop. Solution? You know.
Soon after 20 slave farmers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 thanks to a Dutch privateer, plans were established to make use of Africans' skills as cotton, sugar and rice growers on vast plantations. In their Adobe-available document, Rice-To-Know Facts, the National Rice Month folks note that rice was the first agribusiness-grown crop in the colonies, underway by 1685. No mention of the people doing all that back-breaking rice business in the Carolinas, though.
Rice provides half the world with the majority of their calories and of course is central to the cuisines of Asia, and much of South America and Africa. Rice, Oryiza sativa, we salute you! Risotto con funghi is on our menu to kick off NR Month. It's September, by the way.
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