The History of Fruits & Vegetables

By Michael Hinckley, eHow Contributor

updated: September 21, 2009

Fruits and vegetables are a part of a healthy diet, but eating enough is sometimes a hassle.
Regardless, fruits and vegetables play an important part in our nutrition, our heritage, and our
history. Understanding the importance of fruits and vegetables may help you make wiser dietary
choices and appreciate how easy it really is to get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Hunter-Gatherer
1. The earliest humans spent the majority of their waking hours looking for food--that is
hunting animals and gathering fruits and vegetables. Fruits, the fleshy portions of a plant which
protect and nourish a seed, were common only in the springtime, though some fruits (such as
apples) did mature later. Vegetables, on the other hand, are the stems, leaves, or roots of plants
and could be harvested almost year 'round. Nevertheless, fruits and vegetables were by no
means common or consistent in the pre-historical lives of human beings.
Early Cultivation
2. Early civilizations, such as Sumerians, Babylonians, Greeks and Chinese, cultivated a
variety of fruits and vegetables both for their nutritional value and also because of their aesthetic
value. Figs and dates, for example, became a staple of the diet of many city-dwellers in ancient
Mesopotamia while the Greeks cultivatef grapes both for eating and for wine. 
Vegetables such as onions, garlic and radishes were cultivated in early Egyptian society as part
of the average diet and to provide flavor for other dishes. 
Still, preservation was sometimes problematic; in some cultures fruits were dried and stored for
winter, but rarely lasted until spring.
Medieval Vegetables
3. For the medieval European, tubers usually formed the majority of vegetable intake; both
because they were relatively plentiful and because they stored well after being harvested. 
Fruits, such as pears, grew wild in early medieval Britain but, along with apples, became one of
the most successful cultivated fruits in Europe. Romans imported grapes (for making wine) to the
British Isles and into Germany; those fruits have flourished ever since.
Europeans developed a myriad of techniques to preserve fruits and vegetables, the most
common being pickling and fermenting. Grapes fermented into wine or apples and honey
fermented into mead while vegetables such as onions and beets could be pickled to prevent
decay and vermin infestation.
Early Modern Fruits and Vegetables
4. In 1747, after much trial and error, Dr. James Lind discovered that if English sailors ate
citrus fruits, they would not be disabled by scurvy. The Royal Navy quickly instituted a policy of
requiring sailors to eat citrus, usually in the form of limes, which quickly earned the English the
nickname of "Limeys."
Vegetables from the New World, such as potatoes and corn, were rare delicacies to the
Europeans and were quickly adopted into the European diet. 
Traditional methods of preservation were used well into the 20th century to preserve fruits and
vegetables during winter months. During the early 19th century canning was developed by the
French to keep Napoleon's army well fed and on the move.
Freezing Vegetables
5. After spending several years in Labrador, Canada, Clarence Birdseye perfected the art of
quick-freezing fruits and vegetables. Though simple at first glance, freezing fruits and vegetables
often resulted in the formation of ice crystals within the fruit which often destroyed its flavor and
nutritional content. Birdseye, however, noticed that food exposed to the extreme cold of
Labrador's intense winters did not share these properties. In 1923, Birdseye perfected his
technique and began inducing grocers to carry refrigerated display cases to store his quick-
frozen fruits and vegetables. Under the new system, a fruit or vegetable could be picked and
processed in spring and still enjoyed as near-fresh in the middle of winter.

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