It was the greatest gift of all. I mean, until 500 years ago, Italians lived without tomatoes, without modern pizza or marinara sauce or pizza or ketchup or pizza or even pizza. Indians lived without curry, which contains chilies, a New World food. Persians lived without corn, which is a New World food, as are beans and potatoes and avocados and peanuts and blueberries. The list goes on and on. And these New World crops led to probably the greatest population increase in history. To quote Crosby, It is crudely true that if man's caloric intake is sufficient, he will somehow stagger to maturity, and he will reproduce.