Breadbasket#North America
{{Short description|High productivity agricultural region}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}{{about|the cultural/political concept|| Basket (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Rice bowl|the Japanese food and container|Donburi|the American football championship in Japan|Rice Bowl}}
{{more citations needed|date= June 2008}}{{Agriculture}}
The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia;{{Cite web |last=Than |first=Ker |date=2012-05-03 |title=Scientists Race to Save World's Rice Bowl From Climate Change |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/120502-southeast-asia-climate-change |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226153031/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/120502-southeast-asia-climate-change |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 February 2021 |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=National Geographic |language=en}} California's Salinas Valley is sometimes referred to as America's salad bowl.{{cite news|last= Bryce|first= Emma|title= Wildlife forced out of California 'salad bowl' by food safety regulations|url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/world-on-a-plate/2013/may/08/wildlife-california-salad-bowl-food-safety|access-date= 2013-08-05|newspaper= The Guardian|date= 2013-05-08}}{{cite news|last= Kaplan|first= Sheila|title= Salinas, California: The Salad Bowl of Pesticides|url= http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/21/salinas-california-the-salad-bowl-of-pesticides/|access-date= 2013-08-05|newspaper= Politics Daily}} Such regions may be the subject of fierce political disputes, which may even escalate into full military conflicts.
For example: Ukraine in 1941–1944 during World War II:
{{cite book
| last1 = Snyder
| first1 = Timothy
| author-link1 = Timothy D. Snyder
| chapter = The Economics of Apocalypse
| title = Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
| date = 12 October 2010
| location = New York
| publisher = Basic Books
| publication-date = 2010
| page = 161
| isbn = 9780465002399
| quote = Food from Ukraine was as important to the Nazi vision of an eastern empire as it was to Stalin's defense of the integrity of the Soviet Union. Stalin's Ukrainian 'fortress' was Hitler's Ukrainian 'breadbasket.' [...] Hitler wanted Ukraine 'so that no one is able to starve us again, like in the last war.'
}}
Breadbaskets have become important within the global food system by concentrating global food-production in a small number of countries and, in countries such as India, in small geographic regions.
{{Cite web|last= Woetzel|first= Jonathan
|title= Will the world's breadbaskets become less reliable?
|url= https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/will-the-worlds-breadbaskets-become-less-reliable#:~:text=Climate%20change%20could%20affect%20food,heat%20waves,%20and%20excessive%20precipitation.
|access-date= 2021-03-12|website= McKinsey & Company|language= en}}
As climate change increases weather variability around the world, the likelihood of multiple breadbaskets failing at a time increases dramatically. The 2022 food crises has been in part facilitated by a series of failures in key breadbasket regions, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has created significant potential disruption of the respective breadbasket regions that are important for global wheat and oil seed production.{{Cite web |author=Julia Horowitz |title=War has brought the world to the brink of a food crisis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/12/business/food-crisis-ukraine-russia/index.html |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=CNN|date=12 March 2022 }}{{Cite web |last=Lynch |first=Colum |title=U.N. to Keep Beasley at WFP as Food Crises Roil the World |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/17/un-wfp-david-beasley-food-crisis/ |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=McDonough |first=Siobhan |date=2022-02-27 |title=What the Russian invasion of Ukraine could mean for global hunger |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/2/27/22950805/russia-ukraine-food-prices-hunger-invasion-war |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=Vox |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Nicas |first=Jack |date=2022-03-20 |title=Ukraine War Threatens to Cause a Global Food Crisis |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/20/world/americas/ukraine-war-global-food-crisis.html |access-date=2022-04-01 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Good |first=Keith |date=2022-03-21 |title="Global Food Crisis" Possible- – "No Precedent Even Close to This Since World War II" • Farm Policy News |url=https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2022/03/global-food-crisis-possible-no-precedent-even-close-to-this-since-world-war-ii/ |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=Farm Policy News |language=en-US}}
History
{{Further|Grain trade}}
=Classical antiquity=
Sicily and the province of Africa were considered the breadbaskets of the Roman Republic. Later, in the imperial era, Hispania (and specifically, Baetica) was considered the "breadbasket of Rome." Strabo mentions that "Turdetania is wonderfully fertile, it has all kinds of fruits and very abundant", and that together with province of Egypt, they are the most productive territories in the known world.{{Cite book |last=Luján |first=Néstor |author-link=:es:Néstor Luján |title=Historia de la gastronomía |date=1988 |publisher=Debate |isbn=978-84-17636-48-7 |edition=2nd |pages=62 |language=es}} Crimea was the source of a large amount of grain supplied to the Greek city-states, especially Athens.
Africa
File:Miliana situation.JPG, Algeria]]
In South Africa, the Free State province is often considered the country's breadbasket due to its wheat, sunflower, and maize fields.{{cite web|date=28 March 2006|title=South Africa : Accommodation : Free State|url=http://www.doorway.co.za/accommodation--freestate--south_africa.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060328074350/http://www.doorway.co.za/accommodation--freestate--south_africa.asp|archive-date=2006-03-28}} The Overberg region in the Western Cape is also known as the breadbasket of South Africa due to its large wheat fields, as well as fruit growing.{{cite web |url=http://www.thegeoshop.co.za/mapsslingsby/overberg.htm |title= Overberg & Whale Coast Touring Map: Overberg... The Breadbasket of South Africa|website=www.thegeoshop.co.za |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929161708/http://www.thegeoshop.co.za/mapsslingsby/overberg.htm |archive-date=September 29, 2010}}
Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, was known as the breadbasket of Africa until 2000, exporting wheat, tobacco, and maize to the wider world, especially to other African nations. However today, Zimbabwe, is a net importer of foodstuffs from the Western World.{{cite web|date=13 April 2005|title=From Breadbasket to Dustbowl|url=http://spectator.org/48721_breadbasket-dustbowl/|access-date=2018-01-01}}
=Morocco=
Since subsistence agriculture was the dominant economic system in most of Morocco's history, it's difficult to speak of a breadbasket region. All regions produced their own wheat and barley to feed themselves and their livestock. With the European commercial penetration in the second half of the 19th century, Morocco started to export wheat to Europe despite the objection of the ulama (religious establishment). The Chaouia and Doukkala plains became the most important suppliers of wheat for export. This is logical given their proximity to the coast. The ports of Casablanca and Feddala, today's Mohammedia, serviced the Chaouia Plain while the port of Mazagan serviced Doukkala.
After Morocco's independence, agriculture in Doukkala became geared toward irrigation so less area has been devoted to wheat, whereas Chaouia maintained its status as a major wheat-producing region thanks to its dark soil called tirs and relatively abundant rainfall (avg. 400 mm/year).
Asia
File:1213Canantong, Laur, Nueva Ecija 47.jpg, Philippines]]
Europe
File:Field in County Kildare.jpg, Ireland]]
File:Wheat fields at Nöbbelöv, Lund - panoramio (1).jpg in Scania, Sweden.]]
The Americas
=North America=
In Canada, a major grain-growing area is called the Canadian prairies. Sometimes the province of Saskatchewan, also known for producing a huge supplement of potash, is further singled out from within this region as the main breadbasket of Canada.
In the United States, an important region is the Corn Belt, where maize and soybeans are major crops, which generally extends from the Great Lakes south through Missouri.{{citation |chapter-url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Corn-Belt |chapter=Corn Belt Region, United States |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2016-07-21}} Further to the west in both the United States and Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, is the Wheat Belt, where the climate is too severe for maize or soybeans.{{citation |chapter-url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Wheat-Belt-North-America |chapter=Wheat Belt Region, North America |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2016-07-21}}
The Palouse region of Eastern Washington state is often referred to as the Breadbasket of the Pacific Northwest, due to its high production of cereal wheat and lentils.[https://www.historylink.org/File/21303]
During the Civil War, the Shenandoah Valley was known as the Breadbasket of the Confederacy.{{cite web|url=https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/our-once-beautiful-but-now-desolated-valley/#:~:text=During%20the%20Civil%20War%20the,importance%20to%20the%20Southern%20cause.&text=Thus%2C%20in%20the%20context%20of,the%20Breadbasket%20of%20the%20Confederacy.%E2%80%9D|title="Our once beautiful but now desolated Valley"|website=Shenandoah at War|accessdate=2021-03-17|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308134803/https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/our-once-beautiful-but-now-desolated-valley/#:~:text=During%20the%20Civil%20War%20the,importance%20to%20the%20Southern%20cause.&text=Thus%2C%20in%20the%20context%20of,the%20Breadbasket%20of%20the%20Confederacy.%E2%80%9D|url-status=dead}}
Additionally, the San Joaquin Valley in California has also been called the breadbasket of the world.{{cite web|url=http://eb5northerncalifornia.com/index.php?page=breadbasket-of-the-world|title=EB5 Northern California – Breadbasket Of The World|website=eb5northerncalifornia.com|access-date=2018-01-01}} The San Joaquin Valley produces the majority of the 12.8% of the United States' agricultural production (as measured by dollar value) that comes from California.{{cite web|url=http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/files/CDFA_Sec2.pdf|date=2009-04-06|title=Agricultural Statistical Review|work=California Agricultural Resource Directory 2008–2009 |accessdate=2021-03-17}} Grapes—table, raisin, and, to a lesser extent, wine—are perhaps the valley's highest-profile product, but equally (if not more) important are cotton, nuts (especially almonds and pistachios), citrus, and vegetables. 70% of the world's and 100% of the U.S. supply of almonds comes from the valley. Oranges, peaches, garlic, tangerines, tomatoes, kiwis, hay, alfalfa and numerous other crops have been harvested with great success. According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture's ranking of market value of agricultural products sold, nine of the nation's top 10, and 12 of the top 20, producing counties are in California.
= South America =
File:Sembrado de cebada en argentina.jpg, Argentina]]
Brazil is the second biggest grain exporter in the world, with 19% of the international market share, and the fourth grain producer country (rice, barley, soybeans, corn and wheat) behind the United States, China and India.{{Cite web| title=Brazil is the world's fourth largest grain producer and top beef exporter, study shows |url=https://www.embrapa.br/en/busca-de-noticias/-/noticia/62619259/brazil-is-the-worlds-fourth-largest-grain-producer-and-top-beef-exporter-study-shows|access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Embrapa}} Brazil is also the top global exporter of soybeans, sugarcane, orange juice, coffee, poultry, beef, maize, and the second biggest exporter of pork and cotton. The country also has a significant presence as producer and exporter of rice, wheat, eggs, cocoa, beans, nuts, and diverse fruits and vegetables.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Argentina was known as the breadbasket of the world, due to the importance that agriculture had, and still has, in the country. Argentina's cereal cultivation is found in the Pampas region, which encompasses the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba and La Pampa. Within this region, many cities, such as Pergamino, Venado Tuerto and Rosario, are one of the most fertile areas in the continent. Some of the plantations include soybeans, maize, wheat, barley, sunflower and peanut, among others.
In the 19th century, access to the Californian and Australian markets made wheat export a very lucrative activity, leading to the Chilean wheat cycle.{{in lang|es}} [http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/dest.asp?id=haciendaexportacion La Hacienda (1830–1930)]. Memoria Chilena. In the mid-19th century, those countries experienced large gold rushes, which created a large demand for wheat. Chile was at the time the "only wheat producer of some importance in the Pacific".{{in lang|es}} Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando and Estelle, Patricio. 1974. Historia De Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Chile. pp. 481–485.
Oceania
=Australia=
The Murray-Darling Basin is seen as Australia's breadbasket, being the source of 40% of the nation's agricultural income, a third of the wheat harvest, 95 percent of the rice crop and other products such as fruit, wine and cotton.{{cite web |url=http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/the_murraydarling_basin_a_catchment_in_crisis_64188 |title=The Murray-Darling Basin: A catchment in crisis |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher=Special Broadcasting Service |date=2007-09-17 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
=New Zealand=
When New Zealand became a British colony, the fertile lands produced food that would be shipped back to England, causing New Zealand to become colloquially known (occasionally along with Australia) as Britain's breadbasket, subsequently leading to the Dunedin being the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigerated meat. She was refitted with a refrigeration machine with which she took the first load of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
References
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Further reading
{{wiktionary}}
- Myanmar Business Today; Print Edition, 27 February 2014. A Roadmap to Building Myanmar into the Food Basket of Asia, by David DuByne & Hishamuddin Koh