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A
Vast and Varied Land
The
Inka Empire stretched over 2400 miles along the Andes
Mountains in western South America, from the arid
Pacific coast on the west, over high mountain peaks,
to the edges of the Amazon jungle in the east. It encompassed
an enormous range of climates and terrain, from extreme
desert to frigid mountain tops, from temperate plains
and deep valleys to steaming jungles.
A Huge Range of Climates
Even within the mountains,
ridges and rivers cut one area off from its neighbors,
creating hundreds of different
zones of terrain and climate.
A Huge Range of Plants
An enormous diversity of plants
occurred by nature within the boundaries of the empire.
Furthermore, the Inkas
had assimilated scores of existing tribes, the heirs
of several prior great cultures. Natives of each of these
areas had domesticated dozens of species of food plants
and selectively bred them over the course of thousands
of years of cultivation, altering them to suit their
needs.
The Inka Relocation Policy
In addition, the Inkas dealt with unruly groups by
uprooting entire villages and transplanting them
to new locations,
often exchanging them for the prior inhabitants of
their new homes. These groups took their local crops
with them. As a result, many crops were transplanted
to new locations, then adapted to local conditions,
adding further hardiness and creating more new species. |
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New World Crops Conquer the
Old World
When the Spaniards arrived, they adopted some crops,
such as maize (corn) and potatoes, and took them back to
Europe.
Some, like chocolate (from Mexico), were
an immediate hit. Others, like tomatoes and potatoes (an Inka contribution),
were accepted more slowly, but over the course of the next several centuries,
these New World foods became standard fare throughout most of the world.
The Spanish
Suppression
Other crops, however, were ignored by the Spanish, and some
were actively suppressed. This latter group included
several highly nourishing grains and a special breed of giant
corn,
which had been reserved for the exclusive use of the
Inka himself, his nobles, and occasional warriors who performed
acts of great valor.
The conquistadors went
to great lengths to exterminate warriors and the nobility,
who might
have opposed Spanish
rule over
their former empire. This suppression extended even to the
foods that had been prized by the Inka nobility. Even farmers
who dared to grow these "noble" crops were killed
by Spanish troops. As a result, many of these remarkable
foods have been "lost" for the last five centuries.
Lost
Nutrition
This is a great loss, because many of these foods
are extraordinarily nutritious, with much higher levels
of protein and other valuable
nutrients than most of the major food we eat today. They
include two grains, kiwicha and quinoa, several colorful
varieties
of potatoes, and the special giant species of maize that
was reserved for emperors and heroes.
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| Machu Picchu. |
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| Cuzco's Giant Corn. |
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| Kiwicha field. (Amaranth) |
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| Farmers using the traditional
Chakitaklla. |
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