Sweetpotato Blog — #sweetpotato #history #origin #foodhistory

The specific origin of the sweetpotato is not known but it is believed to be first grown and cultivated in either Central or South America dating as far back as 6000 BCE.  Wikipedia reports that according to one researcher the sweetpotato originated somewhere between the "Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela."  Others propose that the first location of this root vegetable was in Peru.  Jennifer Harbster, a Research and Reference Specialist at the Library of Congress, reports in her post "A Sweetpotato History" that: "The earliest cultivation records of the sweet potato date to 750 BCE...