Midwest

10 delicious all-American summertime foods enjoy surprising overseas origins

Published

2 years ago

May 27, 2024

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10 delicious all-American summertime foods enjoy surprising overseas origins

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Americans from sea to shining sea feast on juicy beef burgers dripping with Wisconsin cheddar followed by apple pie or peach cobbler at sun-splashed cookouts each summer.

The more ambitious among us will fuel up for 4th of July road races on Wheaties and fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice.

Every item on that all-American menu has one thing in common.

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Not one of them is made from foods native to the United States — or even to the Western Hemisphere.

Beef, cheese, apples, peaches, oranges and even wheat are among hundreds of common, even iconic, American foods foreign to American soil.

Cheeseburgers are a definitive American food. But neither beef cattle nor dairy cows are native to the Western Hemisphere. They arrived with European explorers in the wake of voyages by Christopher Columbus. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)

Credit a man reviled by academics today: Christopher Columbus.

The Genoese explorer, sailing under the Spanish crown, was much better appreciated by earlier and more enlightened generations.

“Traditional foods of billions of living people are the mute documents of a process set in motion by Columbus.”

Columbus inspired global cultural integration more profoundly than any human before or since. He did it all with sextants instead of social-media hashtags touting his devotion to diversity.

“The ostensibly traditional foods of billions of living people are the mute documents of a process set in motion by Columbus,” food historian Raymond Sokolov wrote in “Why We Eat What We Eat: How Columbus Changed the Way the World Eats.”

Rendering of Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas in 1492. Chromo-lithograph by Louis Prang and Company. (Getty Images)

The Columbian Exchange, as its known, went both ways.

Roman emperor Julius Caesar never tasted tomato sauce; Ireland patron St. Patrick never peeled a potato; and French heroine Joan of Arc never cherished chocolate souffle.

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Tomatoes, potatoes and chocolate are all New World natives.

Conversely, many foods we cherish as uniquely American today have surprising worldwide origins.

Here are 10.

1. Apples

Apple pie is the standard by which the American-ness of all things is measured. Johnny Appleseed is treasured as the personification of American bounty.

Apples are considered a barometer of American-ness. But they are native to Central Asia. The first apple orchard in the United States was planted by early settler William Blaxton in the 1630s in Boston, Massachusetts. (iStock)

Apples, however, are native to Central Asia. The Pilgrims themselves celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621 without apple pie.

The first apple trees were planted 10 years later in Boston by William Blaxton, the city’s first settler.

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The Roxbury russet, possibly descended from Blaxton’s original orchard, and named for a Boston neighborhood, is the oldest varietal in the U.S. today.

2, 3, 4. Butter, cheese, milk

Imagine the Land of Milk & Honey without either.

That was the Americas before Columbus. No delicious metaphor to address your sweet love, no way to taunt the greasy-fingered player who drops the ball.

“There were no dairy products, no milk, no cream, no butter, no cheese (before European exploration).”

No way to celebrate victory at the Brickyard on Memorial Day weekend.

The winner of the Indianapolis 500 celebrates his triumph each year by drinking, and often dousing himself, with milk handed to him by an Indiana dairy farmer.

Marcus Ericsson of Sweden celebrates in Victory Lane by pouring milk on his head after winning the 106th Running of The Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 29, 2022. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

“There were no dairy products, no milk, no cream, no butter, no cheese,” before European exploration, writes Sokolov.

Dairy cows and domesticated livestock arrived only with European exploration. Honey bees, too, are an Old World import.

5, 6, 7. Bacon, barbecue, burgers

Sizzling bacon, smoky pork, beef brisket, and cheddar-coated cheeseburgers form a holy alliance of all-American deliciousness.

But pork and beef are both global imports that followed trans-Atlantic trade. That’s right: New York sirloin, Texas beef ribs and Carolina pulled pork are culturally appropriated.

A giant smoky barbecue beef rib from Pecan Lodge in Dallas, Texas. Beef livestock are not native to the Americas. Cattle — and red meat — arrived with European explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)

“Red meat from domestic livestock [was] unknown in Mexico before the Spanish imported (it) … Before 1492, Mexican cuisine had no dishes with beef, pork or lamb.”

The livestock prospered and spread across what’s now the United States.

They gave us cattle drives, cowboys and John Wayne westerns.

8. Oranges

The U.S. boasts the Orange State, the Orange Bowl and several Orange counties.

But it had no oranges before Columbus.

The sunny citrus fruit, symbolic of both California and Florida, is native to Southeast Asia.

Oranges are signature cash crops for both California and Florida. But oranges are not native to the Western Hemisphere. They arrived in the wake of the Christopher Columbus explorations. (iStock courtesy of contributor CactuSoup)

The fruit was delivered to the New World by Columbus himself during a subsequent voyage in 1493.

“Soon afterward, the Spanish brought citrus to Florida,” reports the Florida Division of Historical Resources. “Florida Indians obtained seeds from Spanish missionaries and helped establish the growth of the fruit.”

9. Peaches

Atlanta would be a maze of unnamed streets today, Georgia would be best known as the land of a second-rate fiddle-playing devil, and “Reunited” would have been a 1970s solo hit by Herb, without Columbus.

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Peaches are native to China, but took a fancy to American soil.

Thomas Jefferson found peaches peachy — and grew dozens of varieties at Monticello, his hilltop Virginia farmstead.

Peaches grow at an orchard in Reynolds, Georgia, on Friday, July 8, 2022. Despite their ubiquitous association with the state, peaches are no longer Georgia’s biggest fruit crop. (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The peach was introduced either by the Spanish settlers in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 or by the French to an isolated Gulf of Mexico settlement in 1562,” reports the Monticello website.

“It was probably grown in Mexico at an even earlier date.”

10. Wheat (and the Breakfast of Champions)

Wheaties, dubbed the “Breakfast of Champions,” has provided a forum to celebrate great American athletes for nearly a century (tennis legend Billie Jean King is the latest).

The General Mills cereal, and the amber waves of grain used to make it, are coincidental American culinary icons.

Wheaties were discovered in 1921 as a “result of an accidental spill of a wheat bran mixture into a hot stove,” General Mills reports on its website.

Tennis legend Billie Jean King is a 39-time Grand Slam champion and an equal rights champion. She is appearing on limited-edition boxes of Wheaties, dubbed “the Breakfast of Champions,” starting May 2024. (General Mills via AP)

Wheat was a staple of the Spanish diet.

It flourished in the Americas, first in Mexico and spreading north.

The grain was “planted wherever the conquistadors established farms,” writes Sokolov.

“By 1535, Mexico was exporting wheat to the Antilles.”

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Illinois

Chicago property taxes jump — but unevenly

Published

43 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

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Chicago property taxes jump — but unevenly

Some communities saw their bills rise 75% or more.

The median property tax bill for Chicago homeowners rose by a record last year, and some parts of the city saw much steeper increases than others.

The citywide median rise was 16.7%, according to a report from the Cook County Treasurer’s office on bills for tax year 2024.

Many poor communities in Chicago saw the largest increases. In 15 areas on the South and West sides, property taxes shot up 30% because of rising home values. In West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Englewood, West Pullman and West Englewood, property tax bills rose 75% or more.

Chicago homeowners have suffered in recent years. While property taxes did increase in some Cook County suburbs in 2024, city homeowners felt the bulk of the pain. That’s because assessed values on downtown commercial buildings fell 7.2%, reducing taxes on those properties.

Lower commercial assessments don’t reduce what the city expects to collect in property taxes — it just means homeowners pay a larger share.

Other reasons for Chicago homeowners’ high bills this year included a 6.3% increase in the levy, or what taxing bodies request. That rise was driven by a larger request from Chicago Public Schools and a higher amount earmarked for Tax Increment Financing districts. TIF districts collected 10.4% more year over year in 2024, totaling over $1.3 billion.

For 2024 the total Cook County levy was $19.2 billion, up about 4.8% from the previous year. The Chicago-area inflation rate was closer to 3.5%.

Cook County property taxes have outpaced inflation for a long time. Since 1995, they’ve gone up 181%, from $6.8 billion in 1995 to $19.2 billion in 2024, according to the county treasurer. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a 48% increase. If property taxes had risen on pace with inflation, the 2024 levy would have been $13 billion rather than $19.2 billion.

This rising burden can’t continue. Since 2019, more than 1,000 Cook County homeowners — including 125 senior citizens — have lost their homes and all their equity over a property tax debt smaller than the price of a 10-year-old Chevy Impala.

The U.S. Supreme Court has found the practice of taking more than the tax owed to be unconstitutional, but the Illinois General Assembly has yet to change the law to stop it. Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas delayed the property tax lien sale scheduled for last August, but it’s now set for March.

Of the Illinois residents who moved out in 2024, 95% went to lower-tax states. Lawmakers must reduce the property tax burden. They should cap how long TIFs can last and limit how many times they can be extended. Returning that money to general use would bring much-needed transparency and real property tax relief for Illinois residents.

Also, legislators are allowed to work as property tax appeal lawyers, enabling them to profit from ever-growing tax hikes. Imprisoned former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan did that, as did former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke. This practice should not be prohibited.

The best way to reduce the property tax burden is to reform its largest driver: public-sector pensions. In Chicago, 80% of property taxes go toward its growing pension debt. Rather than seeking to control spending, Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed a “pension sweetener” for Chicago police and firefighters that will increase liabilities by $11.1 billion.

Reforming the state constitution would allow for moderate pension changes, increasing the fiscal health of those systems and reducing the property tax burden on Chicago homeowners.

Until changes are made, Cook County homeowners will continue to see their property tax bills climb.

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Indiana

Heavy rain soaks central Indiana, but drought relief uneven across the state

Published

49 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Heavy rain soaks central Indiana, but drought relief uneven across the state

Central Indiana has seen a very wet start to March, with several rounds of rain and storms moving through the region over the past few days. In fact, the city of Indianapolis has already received more rain in the first four days of the month than it typically gets during the entire month of March.

So far this month, Indianapolis has recorded 3.90 inches of rainfall, which already exceeds the normal March monthly average of 3.79 inches. Much of that rain came during a widespread soaking on Tuesday, when a strong system pushed steady showers and thunderstorms across the state.

Some of the highest totals over the past three days have been recorded across central Indiana. Rain gauges show 5.86 inches in Marion County, 5.02 inches in Morgan County, 4.97 inches in Hancock County, 4.95 inches in Shelby County, 4.57 inches in Johnson County, and 4.26 inches in Hendricks County. These totals represent a significant amount of rainfall in a short period of time and have left many areas with saturated ground and standing water in low spots.

Despite the widespread rainfall, the impact on drought conditions has been somewhat uneven across the state. According to the latest drought monitor, the areas that received the heaviest rain over the past few days are largely the same areas that were already in relatively good shape in terms of moisture levels. Meanwhile, parts of northern Indiana that have been dealing with more persistent dryness have seen much lighter totals.

Cities such as Kokomo, Lafayette, and Muncie have generally picked up less rain compared to areas farther south. Forecast models suggest that pattern may continue over the next several days.

Additional rainfall is expected through Thursday, with another round possible around midday Saturday. Current projections show the best chance for another inch or more of rain focusing once again across the southern half of the state, while northern Indiana may see lower totals.

That means while the recent rain has certainly helped improve soil moisture in many areas, it may not fully address the lingering dryness farther north. For now, the pattern remains active, and Hoosiers should expect more wet weather before the system finally begins to move out later this weekend.

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Iowa

Iowa women’s wrestling star Kylie Welker on competing for official NCAA championship

Published

55 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Iowa women’s wrestling star Kylie Welker on competing for official NCAA championship

Wrestling-Women

March 5, 2026

Iowa women’s wrestling star Kylie Welker on competing for official NCAA championship

March 5, 2026

Kylie Welker chats with NCAA Digital’s Sophie Starkey about the success of Iowa women’s wrestling and the possibility of winning the inaugural NCAA sanctioned championship.

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