New food plants for England

A journey through the history of plant hunting for food inspired by the John Innes Historical Collections 🍽️
Using illustrations from the John Innes Historical Collections, we tell the story of the arrival of new foods to this country. We begin with the sugar and spice trade, and move through the age of discovery to focus on some of the plants brought back to Europe from newly discovered South America. From exotic plants like the pineapple, to a transformation in our starchy staple foods, including maize and the potato, for centuries plant hunting has transformed the diets of ordinary people. We explore this history and show how the John Innes Centre has contributed to this story, and how the Centre is preserving the biodiversity of key food crops today 🌾
Originally shown as part of Heritage Open Days 2021.
Find out more about our historical collections here:
www.jic.ac.uk/research-impact...