The first permanent English settlement in North America was Jamestown in Virginia. Once established, colonists began the process of carving plantations out of the wilderness. The best land was along the coast and rivers, which also provided access to transportation and the markets of Europe. Early on, the colonists grew tobacco and some cash crops, with some farms producing their own food. Later plantations specialized in a single cash crop such as rice, cotton or tobacco, and imported the rest of their food supplies from other colonies or from Europe. This specialization made Virginia more dependent upon trade with other colonies and England.