Taking into account people comment from the previous POD which are
justified.
Say we change the POD.
Sometime about 100 CE, the Romans send a large merchant ****p on
a voyage of discovery from England to the Americas. They succeed. Soon a
trade between the Americas and Rome develops. Over time Romans in the
Americas are introduced to the native foods including maize and sweet
potato. They like them and bring some back to Rome. Slowly it
is adopted by the Romans and spreads throughout the empire. Now the
Romans have more abundant and nutritious foods.
More im****tantly, these are much more efficient in providing sustenance
to people by early 500 CE, the Roman Empire's population is much bigger
then the OTL.
What happens now?
http://www.professorshouse.com/food-beverage/food/sweet-potatoes.aspx
Sweet potatoes are sometimes considered =3Fthe small farmers crop=3F
because
they are very easy to grow. Although they do not tolerate frost, the
sweet potato grows in many farming conditions, they have few natural
enemies (pesticides are rarely needed), and they can be grown in poor
soil conditions with little fertilizer. They also are easy to plant
because they are sown by vine cuttings rather than seedlings and because
their rapidly growing vines actually shade out weeds a farmer does not
have to spend time weeding them and they can focus on other crops. In
tropical areas they can simply be maintained in the ground and then
harvested when they are needed to be eaten or sold. Not only does their
ability to be grown easily make them popular but also their =3Fsweet=3F
taste and very nutritious elements make sweet potatoes a great food
choice. Along with their load of starch sweet potatoes also contain a
rich amount of dietary fibre, vitamins A, C, and B6. In 1992, there was
a study conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest where
they compared the nutritional value of other vegetables to the sweet
potato. By looking at fibre content, the amount and quality of complex
carbohydrates and protein present in each vegetable; and by examining
vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron content the sweet potato was
ranked heads above the rest as the most nutritious vegetable. Sweet
potatoes with the dark orange flesh that we often accompany with the
thought of them or yams are ones with more vitamin A present in them.
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