The Potato


		From Famine to Fries:
		The potato has come a long way

		Nils-Bertil Wallin
		YaleGlobal, 30 September 2002



Victims of 19th century Irish potato famine and French fries.

Once grown only in parts of South America the potato has become the most common food around the world. Its' journey is intimately linked with the story of globalization.

Originally found in the Andes Mountains by Spanish conquistadors in the late 1500's, the potato was first brought to Europe, then to India and on to China. Still, a wilder form of the potato was the staple diet of Peru as early as 8,000 years ago.

Once thought to be poisonous or the cause of leprosy, the potato nevertheless gained ground in Europe. Better suited to the damp climate of Europe than wheat, yet not as dependent on irrigation as rice, the potato was a more reliable crop. In fact, Frederick the Great required his subjects to plant the resilient tuber as a safeguard against starvation.

War also led to the popularity of the potato. Since it grows in the ground, invaders often missed the vegetable when destroying the enemy's crops. This is believed to be one reason for its prevalence in Ireland, which was plagued by war throughout the 17th century. Had the Athenians discovered the potato, they might have withstood the Spartan invasion longer during the Peloponnesian War. However, armies soon learned to look underground for the crop. The War of Bavarian Succession (1778-1779) was nicknamed the "Potato War" because both the Austrians and Prussians, unable to gain a victory, took to destroying each others' crops, mainly potatoes.

As a ready and resilient food-supply, the potato allowed populations to increase, people to move away from subsistence economy, and industry to take-off. However, over reliance on the potato brought its own peril as seen in the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's. Before the onset of the famine, Irish peasants were eating an average of 10 potatoes a day as well as feeding the potatoes to their livestock. A fungus that had arrived from North America wiped out the Irish potato crop which consisted of only two high-yield varieties. The Irish population, which had grown by 5 million in under a hundred years thanks to the hardy potato, fell by two million in over 6 years. As one scholar noted, "The Irishmen who had lived by the potato died by the potato."

China is now the largest producer of potatoes with a production of over 60 million tons yearly and a 14 million ton yield. India is the fourth largest producer with an annual output of over 25 million tons. And while production has increased in developing countries so has consumption: Asia now has a yearly consumption of 14 kilograms per person (a 16% increase), while Latin America consumes 24 kilograms (a 15% increase). World potato production lies at 293 million tons.

From its humble beginnings, the potato has gone from a suspicious tuber to gratin dauphinoise to aloo tikki. The gold the conquistadors craved can now be found in the meals of over a billion people today.