The Surprising Origins of Thanksgiving Foods

↓ More info and sources below ↓

References/Learn More:

Ames, Mercedes, and David M. Spooner. "DNA from herbarium specimens settles a controversy about origins of the European potato." American Journal of Botany 95.2 (2008): 252-257.

Doebley, John. "The genetics of maize evolution." Annu. Rev. Genet. 38 (2004): 37-59.

Grun, Paul. "The evolution of cultivated potatoes." Economic Botany 44.3 (1990): 39-55.

McWilliams, James. The Pecan: A history of America's native nut. University of Texas Press, 2013.

Nee, Michael. "The domestication of cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae)." Economic Botany 44.3 (1990): 56-68.

Polashock, James, et al. "The American cranberry: first insights into the whole genome of a species adapted to bog habitat." BMC plant biology 14.1 (2014): 1

Speller, Camilla F., et al. "Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107.7 (2010): 2807-2812.

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[besmart]

When it comes to interesting science, I always go back for seconds!

Also, I am thankful for all of you this year.

[MedEighty]

So the average weight of turkeys has increased at the same rate as the average weight of Americans. :)

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[xelgringoloco]

I find it crazy to think about European food before the Columbian exchange. Scotland, Ireland and Russia had no potatoes, Spain and Italy had no tomatoes. How many Italian dishes with tomatoes can you name against ones without?

[KQEDDeepLook]

Loved the audio cue from Law & Ordure.

[Master_Therion]

Selective breeding of turkeys, corn, potatos etc. alters their genes and makes them bigger. Same thing happens to me after eating too much on Thanksgiving... get bigger and alter my jeans.

[thinkfact]

One interesting fact is that the pilgrims likely knew what turkeys were before even arriving in the new* world. The Spanish brought them back to Europe, trading them amongst Europeans. There is a bird from the old world that is relatively similar to the turkey, it lived within the borders of the former Ottoman Empire thus receiving its name. When the North American Turkey made its way to Europe, the name for the birds the Ottomans were trading became associated with the ones the Spanish were trading from the New World. In the context of English, the North American bird got the name "Turkey" due to the mix-up.

Pretty interesting. Great video guys!

[maidpretty]

So, Native Americans have been cultivating these foods for thousands of years, and then helped first white colonists to survive by teaching them how to grow these local cultures. Some time later the descendants of these colonists gave their thanks to God and native Americans by massacring millions of them in a systematic genocide fashion while other millions of native Americans died from Old World deceases colonists brought, then the survivors were pushed to reservations. I find it strange that everybody seems to forget this real "surprising" origin of thanksgiving foods while enjoying their turkey.

[garrusn]

"Pronounced puh-con not pea-can." You sir, just earned yourself a like.

[upandatom]

I'm from Australia and about to experience my first ever America thanks giving :) I'll tell everyone the cool facts I learnt in this video and be super popular ;)
ps. congrats on reaching a million subscribers!

[damagineer]

Thank you for your pronunciation of pecan. I live in Massachusetts where people are crazy and call them peecan.

[neurotransmissions]

"Butter-drenched sugar missiles" - lol! What a great history of our favorite Thanksgiving foods - with a kind and smart theme about how advances in agriculture and technology have helped create the foods we love!

[whiterottenrabbit]

I am following this channel from the beginning and I am pleased to see that it arrived at over a million subscribers. Also, I am glad that the videos are not cut in an excessive way like many other videos today, where there's a cut after almost every sentence with a bigger gap between words within a sentence than between sentences. Thanks for making such high quality videos, keep up the good work!

[lostusaslambus]

I love the face on the animated farmer when they go "unless farmers do it for them." haha!

[junezhang]

I hate it every time you say "STAY CURIOUS", that signals the end of awesomeness.

[bd_mayhem]

Thumbs up for "pecan" not "pee-can."

[MasterGeekMX]

Here in Mexico corn is prepared with mayo, shredded white cheese and some chili powder.

[dm_nimbus]

This video had a bunch of tiny details that made it just that much better. Nice :)

[pHappyfeet]

So much for people boycotting GMOs....

[SoTrue]

I first read the title as, "The Surprising Origin of Thanksgiving Fools."

[NielsHeldens]

I am more excited about 'Black Friday' than about thanksgiving.