Aztec Food and Agriculture Informative Speech
Informative Speech Outline
I. Introduction of cultural component: How does it reflect the culture as a whole?
Food is considered to be an important part of Aztec society since the Aztecs had no type of currency for their economy. According to allabouthistory.org, the Aztecs had a barter system, basically a trading system where they used foods, primarily cacao beans to trade one another for items such as clothing, eggs, and etc. for daily use. The amount of beans traded would vary from item to item depending on its value.
Central Idea:
How food influences the culture.
Preview Main Points:
1. Diet 2. Agriculture 3. Influence on foods today
Transition to Body:
II. Body
Main Point #1
The Aztecs only ate two meals a day, unlike people today. Since the ancient Aztecs had no access to livestock such as cows and pigs, which were later introduced to them by the
Spanish, their main diet consisted of vegetables and fruits such as corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, avocados, and etc. Though they did have domesticated turkeys, ducks, and dogs for food, they only played a minor contribution to the diet. According to foodtimeline.org, the Aztecs also hunted and ate fish, insects, iguanas, and deer but these sources were also very limited like the turkeys and dogs.
The Aztecs’ number one staple food was corn, specifically a type of corn called maize. It came in various shapes, sizes and colors and was eaten by all classes of the Aztec people.
Maize is so important to Aztec society that it played a large part in their mythology and religion and was considered as precious as their flesh and bones. It is like the rice in Asia and the wheat in Europe. A meal would not be called a meal unless they had corn in it.
There are various ways to eat corn such as corn tortillas, tamales, corn soup also called pozole, and many other ways. One particular method of preparing maize is called nixtamalization where a salty
I. Introduction of cultural component: How does it reflect the culture as a whole?
Food is considered to be an important part of Aztec society since the Aztecs had no type of currency for their economy. According to allabouthistory.org, the Aztecs had a barter system, basically a trading system where they used foods, primarily cacao beans to trade one another for items such as clothing, eggs, and etc. for daily use. The amount of beans traded would vary from item to item depending on its value.
Central Idea:
How food influences the culture.
Preview Main Points:
1. Diet 2. Agriculture 3. Influence on foods today
Transition to Body:
II. Body
Main Point #1
The Aztecs only ate two meals a day, unlike people today. Since the ancient Aztecs had no access to livestock such as cows and pigs, which were later introduced to them by the
Spanish, their main diet consisted of vegetables and fruits such as corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, avocados, and etc. Though they did have domesticated turkeys, ducks, and dogs for food, they only played a minor contribution to the diet. According to foodtimeline.org, the Aztecs also hunted and ate fish, insects, iguanas, and deer but these sources were also very limited like the turkeys and dogs.
The Aztecs’ number one staple food was corn, specifically a type of corn called maize. It came in various shapes, sizes and colors and was eaten by all classes of the Aztec people.
Maize is so important to Aztec society that it played a large part in their mythology and religion and was considered as precious as their flesh and bones. It is like the rice in Asia and the wheat in Europe. A meal would not be called a meal unless they had corn in it.
There are various ways to eat corn such as corn tortillas, tamales, corn soup also called pozole, and many other ways. One particular method of preparing maize is called nixtamalization where a salty