Foods are Immigrants, Too!

With all the discussion, turmoil, and conflicting information about immigrants to our United States and what they bring and/or take from us who live here, I thought these facts just might give you a moment of pause. Consider these foreign-born intruders who came to our shores from strange lands and cultures not our own:

• Apples — originated in Kazakhstan
• Oranges — from China
•  Potatoes — from Andean countries in South America
• Corn — from Mexico (Oaxaca, to be exact)
• Tomatoes — from Peru
• Peanuts — from Africa (on slave ships)
• Avocados — Mexico

Thankfully, these immigrants have been welcomed, encouraged to reproduce, and made to feel “at home.” Good thing no one ever suggested they “go back where they came from” or our diets would be much different, wouldn’t they?

Vernita Kennen
Incarnation Lutheran, Shoreview