Role in Human Society

Vanilla is very important economically and culturally for people all around the world. The history of this plant is very extraordinary and powerful, going back to the time of the Totonac Indians and the Aztec people of Mexico, the native land of vanilla. This was during the fifteenth century. Due to these different cultures and their discovery and use of vanilla, Mexico was the chief producer of this plant until around 1819. That year, however, the French history of Vanilla began as vanilla fruit was shipped to the islands of Réunion and Mauritius by hand in hope that the vanilla plants or "pods" would thrive. Currently Indonesia and Madagascar are the world's leading producers of vanilla. Canada doesn't play a huge role in the history of vanilla but does import huge amounts of it from the leading producers of this plant, and manufactures many products out of it. Vanilla impacts our economy due to our economical tie with Indonesia and Madagascar since the 1950 and 60s. In addition to the economy, the environment is somewhat affected by vanilla. The environment itself isn’t too affected by this plant; however, the plant is quiet dependant on the environment as stated in the “Plant Biology” sector. On the other hand, as demand for vanilla increases around the world, the leading producers of this plant will make space for more and more metric tonnes for this vine. While adding more surface area for the vanilla to grow on, it is taking over other