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The Pecan: A History of America's Native Nut
What would Thanksgiving be without pecan pie? New Orleans without pecan pralines? Southern cooks would have to hang up their aprons without America's native nut, whose popularity has spread far beyond the tree's natural home. But as familiar as the pecan is, most people don't know the fascinating story of how native pecan trees fed Americans for thousands of years until the nut was "improved" a little more than a century ago--and why that rapid domestication actually threatens the pecan's long-term future.
In The Pecan, acclaimed writer and historian James McWilliams explores the history of America's most important commercial nut. He describes how essential the pecan was for Native Americans--by some calculations, an average pecan harvest had the food value of nearly 150,000 bison. McWilliams explains that, because of its natural edibility, abundance, and ease of harvesting, the pecan was left in its natural state longer than any other commercial fruit or nut crop in America. Yet once the process of "improvement" began, it took less than a century for the pecan to be almost totally domesticated. Today, more than 300 million pounds of pecans are produced every year in the United States--and as much as half of that total might be exported to China, which has fallen in love with America's native nut. McWilliams also warns that, as ubiquitous as the pecan has become, it is vulnerable to a "perfect storm" of economic threats and ecological disasters that could wipe it out within a generation. This lively history suggests why the pecan deserves to be recognized as a true American heirloom.
In The Pecan, acclaimed writer and historian James McWilliams explores the history of America's most important commercial nut. He describes how essential the pecan was for Native Americans--by some calculations, an average pecan harvest had the food value of nearly 150,000 bison. McWilliams explains that, because of its natural edibility, abundance, and ease of harvesting, the pecan was left in its natural state longer than any other commercial fruit or nut crop in America. Yet once the process of "improvement" began, it took less than a century for the pecan to be almost totally domesticated. Today, more than 300 million pounds of pecans are produced every year in the United States--and as much as half of that total might be exported to China, which has fallen in love with America's native nut. McWilliams also warns that, as ubiquitous as the pecan has become, it is vulnerable to a "perfect storm" of economic threats and ecological disasters that could wipe it out within a generation. This lively history suggests why the pecan deserves to be recognized as a true American heirloom.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2013
16 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
James McWilliams
18 books24 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Disambiguated authors:
(1) James McWilliams - See below (Current Profile)
(2) James McWilliams - War Historian
He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Georgetown University in 1991, his Ed.M. from Harvard University in 1994, his M.A. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996, and his Ph.D. in History from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. He won the Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History awarded by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts for 2000, and won the Hiett Prize in the Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture in 2009. He has been a fellow in the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University. He currently is a Professor in the History Department at Texas State University.
Writing has appeared in The Paris Review daily, The New Yorker.com, The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post, Slate, The American Scholar, Texas Monthly, The Atlantic, and The Virginia Quarterly Review. McWilliams writes column at Pacific Standard. Literary non-fiction has appeared in The Millions, Quarterly Conversation, The New York Times Book Review, and The Hedgehog Review.
Disambiguated authors:
(1) James McWilliams - See below (Current Profile)
(2) James McWilliams - War Historian
He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Georgetown University in 1991, his Ed.M. from Harvard University in 1994, his M.A. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996, and his Ph.D. in History from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. He won the Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History awarded by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts for 2000, and won the Hiett Prize in the Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture in 2009. He has been a fellow in the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University. He currently is a Professor in the History Department at Texas State University.
Writing has appeared in The Paris Review daily, The New Yorker.com, The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post, Slate, The American Scholar, Texas Monthly, The Atlantic, and The Virginia Quarterly Review. McWilliams writes column at Pacific Standard. Literary non-fiction has appeared in The Millions, Quarterly Conversation, The New York Times Book Review, and The Hedgehog Review.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 21, 2013
Even though short, it is fairly repetitive. But still an interesting tale of how this nut has gone from a mostly wild-harvested crop to a highly commercial, global crop in a period, 100 years, much shorter than for other plants.
October 4, 2020
I grew up eating pecans from the trees in our backyard and wondering why they tasted so much better than grocery store pecans. This book answers many of my questions about pecans. It appeals to my interests in food, native plants, agriculture, and biodiversity. McWilliams's style is lively and well-paced, which is great because it's often hard for me to get into non-fiction books other than biographies. I really enjoy a good story, and McWilliams turns the history of the pecan into a good story.
August 22, 2022
I learned quite a bit from this book and I enjoyed that aspect as I love all things trees, ecology and natural history. I just must not have been in the mode to soak it all in as ot was a bit of a slog to get through.
December 3, 2023
Why yes, I am a nerd that will read almost any subject if it strikes my fancy. I throughly enjoyed learning the roots (pun intended) of this native tree. I wish we could get an updated edition since this was published 2013.
August 25, 2017
This book was pretty good, very interesting, but it still felt like it was missing something. I can't quite put my finger on it. But it was informative, well-written and enjoyable nonetheless.
November 19, 2024
Got me an A on my paper!!
March 4, 2017
You might not like this book if you don't like both the history of the American south and pecans. I like both and found this book worth the read. It opened my eyes to the destruction of the native pecan due to the development of hybrids needed for a cash crop.
April 4, 2014
This was fascinating, tight, and broader than it sounds.
Pecan trees thrive throughout the southern United States. Yet most of us know next-to-nothing about this, our (indeed, America's) most economically significant indigenous tree.
It turns out pecans have a fascinating history, especially since the arrival of Europeans in North America. The nuts were prized by Native Americans, and today are popular throughout the world (since the Chinese market opened several years ago, the price of pecans has nearly tripled due to the increased demand). Yet unlike the vast majority of other popular New World foods--corn, tomatoes, and chiles, to name a few--the pecan never left the Americas or even the southern U.S. McWilliams delves into the cultural and botanical reasons for this curious exception. His main thrust, however, is how and why the pecan has been changed by human interaction. From the first successful grafting, by a slave in 19th-century Louisiana, to World War II-era subsidies to our current food-crazed culture, our interest in pecans has steadily increased. And given the relatively short time span over which this happened, the pecan is one of very few plants whose evolution from wild to cultivated can be studied in real detail. As recently as 100 years ago, the pecan was almost totally undomesticated; nuts were brought to market, but cultivation was mostly passive. Today, pecans are almost totally "improved," and native pecan trees, which live for more than 200 years, are in danger of dying isolated deaths. This is cause for concern, since as the genetic diversity of pecans diminishes, they become ever more vulnerable to disease and pests, and given their concentration in a relatively small geographic area, there is even the possibility that a "perfect storm" could cause catastrophic decimation of the trees. Economic pressures--the cost of cultivating pecans is rising rapidly, in part due to an increasing reliance on pesticides--could be equally devastating to the tree.
Pecan trees thrive throughout the southern United States. Yet most of us know next-to-nothing about this, our (indeed, America's) most economically significant indigenous tree.
It turns out pecans have a fascinating history, especially since the arrival of Europeans in North America. The nuts were prized by Native Americans, and today are popular throughout the world (since the Chinese market opened several years ago, the price of pecans has nearly tripled due to the increased demand). Yet unlike the vast majority of other popular New World foods--corn, tomatoes, and chiles, to name a few--the pecan never left the Americas or even the southern U.S. McWilliams delves into the cultural and botanical reasons for this curious exception. His main thrust, however, is how and why the pecan has been changed by human interaction. From the first successful grafting, by a slave in 19th-century Louisiana, to World War II-era subsidies to our current food-crazed culture, our interest in pecans has steadily increased. And given the relatively short time span over which this happened, the pecan is one of very few plants whose evolution from wild to cultivated can be studied in real detail. As recently as 100 years ago, the pecan was almost totally undomesticated; nuts were brought to market, but cultivation was mostly passive. Today, pecans are almost totally "improved," and native pecan trees, which live for more than 200 years, are in danger of dying isolated deaths. This is cause for concern, since as the genetic diversity of pecans diminishes, they become ever more vulnerable to disease and pests, and given their concentration in a relatively small geographic area, there is even the possibility that a "perfect storm" could cause catastrophic decimation of the trees. Economic pressures--the cost of cultivating pecans is rising rapidly, in part due to an increasing reliance on pesticides--could be equally devastating to the tree.
January 21, 2014
I didn't realize the pecan was "America's most economically significant indigenous tree." I also didn't realize the wild pecans are rapidly disappearing. I never really thought the pecans I buy as cultivars - which means they have the typical problems associated with insecticides and the endless, harmful cycle of trying to rid the trees of insects and disease.
Pecans are one of the favorites nuts in my house. I'm glad I read this book but I might not enjoy them as much now. I'll have to make sure to gather some wild ones next time I visit family members in the Southeast.
Pecans are one of the favorites nuts in my house. I'm glad I read this book but I might not enjoy them as much now. I'll have to make sure to gather some wild ones next time I visit family members in the Southeast.
November 5, 2014
I found this book interesting, but long-winded. It might have been better as a longer New Yorker article. The major takeaways for me:
-pecans are a unique nut in that they were completely edible and appealing even before humans tried to propagate them. This is unlike most cultivated nuts like almond and hazelnuts.
-pecans do not "come true from seed," they must be grafted. If you plant a nut from a tree that is really tasty, the resulting tree could produce totally different nuts.
-pecans are expensive now because they are being imported to China.
-pecans are a unique nut in that they were completely edible and appealing even before humans tried to propagate them. This is unlike most cultivated nuts like almond and hazelnuts.
-pecans do not "come true from seed," they must be grafted. If you plant a nut from a tree that is really tasty, the resulting tree could produce totally different nuts.
-pecans are expensive now because they are being imported to China.
November 27, 2015
McWilliams looks at the history of the native American nut, the pecan. Books like this can be fascinating and while this one has some interesting sections the middle is ponderous with too much focus on the technological history of pecan farming.
April 26, 2016
An interesting overview of pecans. Really, all you'd care to know about the topic. I just ordered 3 cold hardy varieties to plant in CT and feel a little less confident about their chances, having read this book. Oh well, nothing ventured...
July 29, 2020
Like most nonfiction I read, this could have been said in fewer words, and it was a relatively short book to begin with. That being said, I learned a great deal about “the American nut,” as well as about the American South and Southwest. Good read.
May 8, 2014
Very Informative.
July 9, 2014
Fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews