It's important to consider the Columbian exchange as an interconnected system rather than a competition. The exchange of goods, ideas, and cultures benefited various societies in different ways, and the effects were not limited to a single winner or loser. Both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres experienced positive and negative consequences as a result of the exchange, including the spread of crops and livestock that enriched diets and improved nutrition, as well as the devastating impact of Eurasian diseases on the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
The term "Columbian exchange" is used to acknowledge the pivotal role of Columbus's voyages in initiating this global exchange, but it is important to recognize the exchange as a mutual process that involved multiple regions, cultures, and ecosystems, and that its impacts were multifaceted and ongoing.