Hey there! I’m Kate from MinuteEarth, and today we’re diving into the saying “As American as Apple Pie.” You might think apple pie is super American, but guess what? The ingredients in apple pie come from all over the world!
Let’s break it down: the apples in your pie were first grown in Kazakhstan, and the bees that help pollinate them are from Europe. The flour and butter? They come from wheat and cows that were first domesticated in the Middle East. The eggs are from chickens that originally lived in Asian jungles, where lemons also come from. Cinnamon is from China, nutmeg is from New Guinea, and sugar might be from sugar beets in Poland. So, none of these ingredients are originally from the United States!
And it’s not just apple pie! Did you know that the ingredients for Italian pizza didn’t start in Italy either? Spicy dishes from Asia, like India’s curries and Korea’s kimchi, get their heat from chilies that were first grown in Central America. Even the rice in rice and beans comes from Asia. On average, more than two-thirds of the calories people eat around the world come from plants and animals that were first domesticated far away from where they live.
Check out this cool fact: every region in the world relies on food that was first grown somewhere else. This global mix-up happened because of things like trade and globalization, which have made us all depend on a small set of plants and animals.
But not every country is the same. Some places, like Southeast Asia, have lots of important foods like rice, sugar, coconuts, and bananas. So, countries like Cambodia and Thailand only get about a quarter of their calories from foods that started elsewhere. On the other hand, places like Southern Africa and Northern America don’t have many globally significant foods, so countries like Zambia, South Africa, Canada, and the US get over 90% of their calories from foods with foreign origins. They do grow their own food, but it originally came from other places.
Even though ingredients travel the world, that doesn’t mean kimchi isn’t Korean or pizza isn’t Italian. Just like humans, who started in one place and spread out across the globe, we identify with the places we live now. So, we say we’re Italian, Indian, or American—maybe even as American as apple pie!
Before you go, we’ve got some exciting news! For all you food lovers, we’ve created a giant, beautiful poster showing where the world’s most important crops and farm animals come from. You can grab it at our store: DFTBA.com/MinuteEarth.
We’ve also got new t-shirts inspired by our recent episodes. One shows off your dinosaur knowledge, and another features a group of cats. Plus, you can join us on Reddit Ask Science to ask all your food origin questions. We’re joined by a world expert on the subject and a fantastic food journalist. Check out the links to the Reddit forum and our store in the description!
Create a world map showing the origins of the ingredients in apple pie. Use different colors to represent each ingredient, such as apples, cinnamon, and sugar. Label each region with the ingredient it contributes. This will help you visualize the global journey of apple pie ingredients.
Research a traditional dish from another country and identify where its main ingredients originally come from. Share your findings with the class and discuss how globalization has influenced the dish. This activity will help you understand the interconnectedness of global cuisines.
Participate in a debate about whether a dish can still be considered part of a country’s identity if its ingredients are from other parts of the world. Prepare arguments for both sides and engage in a lively discussion with your classmates. This will help you explore the concept of cultural identity in cuisine.
Create a timeline that traces the history of apple pie and its ingredients. Include key events such as the domestication of wheat and the spread of apples from Kazakhstan. Present your timeline to the class to illustrate the historical journey of this beloved dessert.
Design a quiz for your classmates that tests their knowledge of where different food ingredients originate. Include questions about apple pie ingredients and other global dishes. This fun activity will reinforce your understanding of food origins and globalization.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi, this is Kate from MinuteEarth. A lot of people use the phrase “As American as Apple Pie” to mean “really, really American.” But the apples in apple pie were domesticated in Kazakhstan, and pollinated by bees native to Europe. The flour and butter came from wheat and cows domesticated in the Middle East, the egg came from the chicken, which originated in the jungles of Asia, where the lemon also originated. The cinnamon came from China, the nutmeg was domesticated in New Guinea, and so was the sugar, unless it was from sugar beets, which are from Poland. In fact, none of the ingredients in apple pie are originally from the US.
And you might not be surprised to hear that the ingredients for Italian pizza didn’t originate in Italy, either. Asia’s spicy dishes, from India’s curries to Korea’s kimchis, owe their heat to chilies domesticated in Central America, which got the rice for its rice and beans from Asia. On average, over two-thirds of the calories consumed in each of the world’s countries come from crops or animals domesticated far away.
Take a look at this chart showing how every single region of the world depends on food domesticated in other regions. Our interconnectedness is kind of overwhelming, and it exists because over time, colonialism, trade, and other forces of globalization have led the entire world to become more and more dependent on a particular, small set of plants and animals.
But two-thirds is just an average. Countries vary widely in how much of their food originated elsewhere, and it pretty much boils down to whether they happen to be located in one of the places where most of these globally important plants and animals were domesticated—typically warm, biodiverse regions where humans have lived for a long time. For example, Southeast Asia is home to important foods like rice, sugar, coconuts, and bananas, so countries like Cambodia and Thailand get only a quarter of their calories from foods domesticated elsewhere. Meanwhile, Southern Africa and Northern America are each home to almost no globally significant foods, so Zambia and South Africa, as well as Canada and the US, all get over 90% of their calories from foods with foreign ancestries. Of course, those countries do grow their own food; it just originated elsewhere.
But all this movement of ingredients doesn’t mean that kimchi isn’t Korean or pizza isn’t Italian. We humans also originated in one place before spreading around the world. Yet today, most of us identify ourselves, and the dishes we eat, with the places we’ve ended up. We say we’re Italian, or Indian, or American—perhaps as American as apple pie.
Hey! Don’t go anywhere! We have lots of exciting news! For all you fans of food out there, we’ve made a giant, gorgeous poster that shows where the world’s most important crops and farm animals come from. You can buy it right now at our store: DFTBA.com/MinuteEarth.
And we’ve also got new t-shirts inspired by recent episodes: this one shows off your dino know-how, and this one features a clowder of cats. Also, you can join us on Reddit Ask Science right now to ask all your food origin questions—we’re joined by a world expert on the subject and a fantastic food journalist. The link to both the Reddit forum and our DFTBA store are in the description.
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Apple – A fruit that grows on trees and is commonly found in temperate regions around the world. – Apples are often grown in orchards and are a popular fruit in many parts of the world, including North America and Europe.
Pie – A baked dish typically made with a pastry crust and filled with fruits or other ingredients. – In geography class, we learned how apple pies are made using apples grown in different regions of the country.
Ingredients – The individual components or items that are combined to make a particular dish or product. – The ingredients for a traditional apple pie include apples, sugar, and cinnamon, which can be sourced from various agricultural regions.
Trade – The exchange of goods and services between different countries or regions. – International trade allows countries to import apples from regions where they are grown in abundance.
Globalization – The process by which businesses and other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. – Globalization has made it possible for people to enjoy foods like apples and pies from different parts of the world.
Food – Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink to maintain life and growth. – Understanding where our food comes from helps us appreciate the different climates and regions that produce it.
Origins – The point or place where something begins or is created. – The origins of the apple pie can be traced back to Europe, where it was first made using local ingredients.
Regions – Areas or divisions, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries. – Different regions of the world are known for producing specific types of crops, such as apples in the northeastern United States.
Calories – A unit of energy that measures the amount of energy food provides to the body. – An apple pie contains a certain number of calories, which come from the sugar and fats used in its preparation.
Crops – Plants grown in large quantities for food or other purposes. – Apples are one of the most important fruit crops grown in temperate regions around the world.
