Humans have been eating and making wine out of grapes for a very long time. The Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and of course, Romans were all notable grape-growing cultures. But grapes also have a history in the New World. According to the medieval Saga of Erik the Red, the Norseman Lief Erikson was so enamored by the profusion of wild grapes growing in the southernmost of his North American encampments that he called the site “Vinland,” or Wine-Land, an area thought to be between Newfoundland and New England. It is known that American Indians had been eating indigenous varietals there long before the next batch of Europeans (the British) finally arrived in the seventeenth century. Unfortunately, these colonists’ European grape varietals all failed because of mildew and New England’s too-short growing season.
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African Black Soap
Women making shea butter in Ivory Coast, West Africa.
Traditionally produced in areas across West Africa, especially Ghana and Togo, African black soap is a multi-purpose cleanser that can be used on the entire body. It’s been used to remedy everything from acne (and its attendant scarring), to allaying the discomforts of eczema and psoriasis, alleviating dandruff and itchy scalp, and reducing fine lines and wrinkles.
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