(Phaseolus vulgaris)
Various species of beans originated all over the world from Africa to South America. The oldest evidence of bean cultivation however, is believed to have been found in a cave deep in the Peruvian Andes. For over 8,000 years the bean has flourished providing a valuable source of nourishment for many different groups of aboriginal peoples. Pole beans, the “original” cultivated bean variety, have a long and distinguished history. From the Southern tip of Chile and Argentina, to the Northern extremes of Lake Huron, pole beans were an important dietary component of tribal groups practicing agriculture. “Bush beans”, on the other hand, are a relatively new phenomena as the history of cultivated beans go. The ability to grow without the requirement of support only came about after careful selection. This strain of bean was first discovered in the Oaxaca Valley of Southern Mexico over 1,000 years ago.