Origin Of Corn Research Paper

The Origin of Corn and its use and Progression Over Time
History of Corn The staple ingredient in almost all food, what feeds livestock, and what fuels the economy, the answer is corn. Corn has played a significant role in the daily lives of people all over the world since ancient times. No matter what part of the globe you look at, or culture you study, corn has had a significant impact in one way shape or form. The origin of corn is still a question of much debate and new research is being performed everyday revealing and uncovering different knowledge about this staple crop. Though its arrival is unknown, we do know that this crop is very important to mankind. There are many theories and hypotheses on the arrival and origin of corn. We know for certain corn is an indigenous crop to the western hemisphere however, its exact origin location is still a mystery. The most common and accepted theory is that corn originated in Central Mexico roughly where the modern day states of Guerrero Mexico and Michoacan meet around 7,000 years ago.(Standage, 2009) It is then after corn spread and became one of the key staples in peoples diet all throughout the Americas. There are many different tribes and cultures throughout the Americas such as the Incas of Peru …show more content…
Corn was a main staple to their diet with quinoa and potatoes being a close runner up. The everyday common people boiled and roasted corn in a big pot along with potatoes or quinoa. This substantiated most of their diet. The elites and nobles however prepared corn in a different way which was much more beneficial and plentiful to them. Aside from boiling and roasting it as the commoners did, they also ground corn. They ground corn into a flour called semolina. They mixed the semolina with other grains creating a basis for many soups and other starchy foods and vegetables. (Olver,2000) Other common Incan dishes were tortillas, tamales and corn