Archaeology and botany confirm that numerous staple crops were cultivated in the pre-Columbian Americas, yet none of them are ever mentioned in the Book of Mormon. These include cacao (chocolate), lima beans, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, and manioc (cassava)—all of which were dietary cornerstones across Mesoamerica and South America long before 600 BCE.

In contrast, the Book of Mormon describes food items and domesticates that had no presence in the Western Hemisphere during its claimed time frame. References to wheat, barley, flax, grapes, and olives are all examples of crops well-attested in the Old-World but unknown archaeologically in pre-Columbian America. Their appearance in the narrative reflects a direct importation of Old-World agriculture into a New World setting without scientific basis.

Thus, while the text is silent on the foods that truly sustained ancient American populations, it instead presents a list of Old-World staples—a pattern that highlights its anachronistic character. The omission of indigenous crops, coupled with the insertion of Eurasian ones, undermines the historical plausibility of the Book of Mormon’s agricultural claims.