Editing Pea (section)

=== History ===
In early times, peas were grown mostly for their dry seeds.<ref>Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, ''A History of Food'', 2nd ed. 2009:38ff.</ref> From plants growing wild in the Mediterranean Basin, constant selection since the [[Neolithic Revolution|Neolithic dawn of agriculture]]<ref>Peas have been found in the Neolithic site of Abeurador in the south of France (Toussaint-Samat).</ref> improved their yield.

Peas are mentioned in [[Aristophanes]]' ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' The Greeks and Romans were cultivating this legume from around 500 BC to 400 BC, with vendors in the streets of [[Athens]] selling hot pea soup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch52.html|title=Peas: History, Uses, Folklore, Growing, Nutrition, Purchasing, Preparation, Recipe: Pease Porridge Hot, Pease Porridge Cold|access-date=February 20, 2007|publisher=Vegetarians in Paradise: A Los Angeles Vegetarian Web Magazine|author=Zel and Reuben Allen|archive-date=April 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427183359/http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch52.html|url-status=dead}}: "vendors in the streets of [classical] Athens were selling hot pea soup."</ref>

In the early 3rd century BC, [[Theophrastus]] mentions peas among the [[Pulse (legume)|legumes]] that are sown late in the winter because of their tenderness.<ref>Theophrastus, ''[[Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)|Historia Plantarum]]'', VIII.i.4.</ref> 
[[File:Dried Green Peas.jpg|thumb|upright|Dried green peas]]
In the first and second centuries BC, [[Cato the Elder]] and [[Varro]] both mention peas in their respective works [[De agri cultura]] and [[De re rustica (Varro)|De re rustica]].<ref>Hooper, William Davis & Ash, Harrison Boyd: ''Marcus Porcius Cato, On agriculture; Marcus Terentius Varro, On agriculture'' Volume 283 of Loeb classical library. Loeb classical library. Latin authors. Harvard University Press, 1934. Pages 141, 257, 299, 465.</ref>

In the [[Middle Ages]], field peas are constantly mentioned, as they were the staple that kept [[famine]] at bay, as [[Charles the Good]], count of [[Flanders]], noted explicitly in 1124.<ref>Edict quoted in Michel Pitrat and Claude Four, ''Histoires de légumes: Des origines à l'orée du XXIe siècle'', "Le pois au cours des siècles" :353.</ref>

Green "garden" peas, eaten immature and fresh, were an innovative luxury of [[Early Modern Europe]]. In England, the distinction between '''[[#Field peas|field peas]]''' and '''[[#Garden peas|garden peas]]''' dates from the early 17th century: [[John Gerard]] and [[John Parkinson (botanist)|John Parkinson]] both mention garden peas.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} [[#Edible-pod peas|Snow and snap peas]], which the French called {{lang|fr|mange-tout}}, because they were eaten pods and all, were introduced to France from the market gardens of [[Holland]] in the time of [[Henry IV of France|Henri IV]], through the French ambassador. Green peas were introduced from [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] to the court of [[Louis XIV of France]] in January 1660, with some staged fanfare. A [[hamper]] of them was presented before the King. They were shelled by [[Eugene Maurice, Count of Soissons|the Savoyan comte de Soissons]], who had married a niece of [[Cardinal Mazarin]]. Little dishes of peas were then presented to the King, the Queen, Cardinal Mazarin and Monsieur, the king's brother.<ref>An account is in Toussaint-Samat.</ref>{{clarify|date=March 2017}} Immediately established and grown for earliness warmed with [[manure]] and protected [[Greenhouse|under glass]], they were still a luxurious delicacy in 1696, when [[Mme de Maintenon]] and [[Mme de Sevigné]] each reported that they were "a fashion, a fury".<ref>Quoted by Michel Pitrat and Claude Four.</ref>{{clarify|date=March 2017}}

The first '''sweet tasting pea''' was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton, near Salisbury, England.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pea Facts |url=https://peas.org/pea-facts/ |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Yes Peas!}}</ref>[[File:PeaYield.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Worldwide pea yield]]Modern [[split pea]]s, with their indigestible skins rubbed off, are a development of the later 19th century.

The top producer of green peas is China with 12.2 million tons, followed by India (4.8 million tons), the U.S. (0.31 million tons), France (0.23 million tons) and Egypt (0.15 million tons). The United Kingdom, Pakistan, Algeria, Peru and Turkey complete the top 10.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}