A relative of quinoa was eaten more than 3000 years ago in Ontario, based on the findings of charred remains of the seeds. The now extinct plant, a domesticated goosefoot, is closely related to both quinoa and the weed lamb’s quarters. Archeologists don’t know if the crop was grown in Ontario or if the food was traded with people from the south. The plant dates back to 900 BC whereas the first evidence of another domesticated crop (maize/corn) in North America is from 500 AD, nearly 1500 years later.
Quinoa has been cultivated in the Andes in Peru, Colombia and Bolivia for millennia. The seed was a staple of the Inca diet 3000-4000 years ago. Crawford Gary W., Jessica L. Lytle, Ronald F. Williamson and Robert Wojtowicz. 2019. An early woodland domesticated chenopod (Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. Jonesianum) cache from the Tutela Heights site, Ontario, Canada. Volume 84, Issue 1, January, Pages 143-157