Potatoes. Image of Ángel Bonel from the province of Zaragoza
We broadcast today, Hispanic Day, from the Plaza de la Maestranza in Seville, on the banks of the Guadalquivir and next to what was called the Port of the Indies, from which the ships that were going departed and arrived at for several centuries. and they came to America. I am not discovering anything if I say that the discovery of this continent changed universal history in all areas, including agriculture, and the way we eat. Can anyone imagine today a Europe without potatoes, tomatoes or corn, which arrived from the other side of the Atlantic? Well the truth is that no. In the same way, it is impossible to imagine the current diet of the inhabitants of the new continent without rice, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs, olive oil, wine, citrus fruits and lentils and chickpeas, that we Spaniards took there. In short, the Discovery of America changed the world map of crops and food.
Like any exceptional historical event, it had lights and shadows. There are those who insist on seeing only the latter and consider that there is nothing to celebrate on this Hispanic Heritage Day. From AGROPOPULAR we think, on the contrary, that there is much more positive than negative in the part that affects the Spaniards and the current countries that were their colonies.. And not only in the material aspect, but also in the intellectual, moral and spiritual aspect.
The Discovery of America changed the world map of crops and food
And I am going to give just one example and vindicate, and this is not the first time I have done so, a first-rate historical figure who is more forgotten than he should be. This is the Dominican friar Francisco de Vitoria. He is the founder of the so-called School of Salamanca and is considered one of the creators of International Law. He was especially concerned about the rights of the indigenous people of America and in his work “De Indis” he makes it clear that the Indians are not inferior beings, but that they have the same rights as any human being and are owners of their property and their lands.
Francisco de Vitoria influenced the Spanish Crown to publish the Laws of the Indies, putting the Indians under its protection.. Neither other monarchies, nor other colonial powers, which occupied North America, above all, can say the same. It is necessary today to vindicate characters like Francisco de Vitoria and the feat of the Discovery of America.
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