Food for Thought

“

“The earth is the Lord’s garden and he has given it to the sons of men to be tilled and improved... [it is wrong] that whole countries as fruitful and convenient for the use of man...lie waste without improvement.”

– John Winthrop advocating emigration to Massachusetts, 1629

”

The Great Migration
In 1629 English Puritans were planning to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Boston would become its capital.) They prepared a list of foods to be brought to the New World: “wheat, rye, barley, oats… beans, pease, stones of all sorts of fruits, as peaches, plums, filberts, cherries, pear, apples, quince kernels, pomegranates,… liquorice seed…potatoes,” and “tame turkeys.” Ironically turkeys had new world origins having been introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers.

Massasoit, leader of the Wampanoag, befriended the Pilgrims. Ironically, he sought English allies because European diseases had significantly reduced the Wampanoag population. Photo by Gkullberg. — A Puritan fleet of seventeen ships, including the flagship Arbella, arrived in 1630.
*- National Archives*

Intrusive
Sailing ships brought unwelcome visitors to the new world. Stowaways included rats, cockroaches, and fly species that were not native to North America. European weeds such as the dandelion also arrived.

Governor John Endicott planted a pear tree in present day Danvers during the 1630’s that still stands. (It is the oldest European fruit tree in America.)
- Patrice Todisco/landscapenotes.com — Governor John Endicott planted a pear tree in present day Danvers during the 1630’s that still stands. (It is the oldest European fruit tree in America.)
*- Patrice Todisco/landscapenotes.com*

A depiction of the Pilgrims embarking on their journey, as displayed in the Brooklyn Museum. — Embarkation of the Pilgrims
*- Brooklyn Museum*

Colonial Massachusetts 101
Massachusetts had two English colonies through much of the seventeenth century. The “Pilgrims” of Plymouth Colony were “separatists” making a complete break with the Church of England. The “Puritans” of the Massachusetts Bay Colony arrived in 1630 and hoped to “purify” the church. In practice both group shared similar Calvinist beliefs.

Bartlett Pear
- Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick — Bartlett Pear
*- Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick*

Pear Review
Pears were brought to Massachusetts from England. In 1799 a new variety - the Williams pear - was imported from England and planted in Roxbury. Years later Enoch Bartlett bought the property. Unaware of its history he named the pear for himself. Today the variety is known as the “Bartlett pear” in North America.

Chain of Custody: Peaches
In 1629, the Puritan founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony listed peaches as one of the fruits to be planted here. Peaches were first cultivated in China. Ancient trade routes brought them to Persia (present day Iran,) After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, peach trees appeared in Greece. Greece’s Roman conquerors later planted them in Western Europe.

Peaches and plums were brought to Massachusetts by Puritan colonists.
*- Graphics Fairy*

Food for Thought: New World / Old World