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An interesting piece of trivia, while potatoes are in cuisine across the world now, they are native to the Americas (which is briefly mentioned in the article).

An interesting piece of trivia, while potatoes are in cuisine across the world now, they are native to the Americas (which is briefly mentioned in the article). It's ability to feed many (being caloricly dense), as well as being fairly rugged allowed it to create Europe's population boom and urbanization when it was introduced there. Let's hope the same can be done to Mars!

ekianjo 11y ago
> It's ability to feed many (being caloricly dense), as well as being fairly rugged allowed it to create Europe's population boom and urbanization when it was introduced there But don't forget to mention that Potato issues have caused massive immigration from Ireland in History (resulting in a large influx of Irish folks to North America): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
- prawn 11y ago
  Whereas some things are fairly straightforward to grow from their own last-crop seeds, resowing potatoes from some you already have often results in disease. I grow a lot of different things in my backyard. From one lettuce, coriander, radish, pumpkin or tomato plant, I can collect loads and loads of seeds to regrow. In the case of a lettuce plant, it's thousands of seeds. Potatoes are trivial to grow from old shrivelled supermarket stock (and sometimes scraps with the eyes intact) but 80+% of crops I've grown this way have been riddled internally with disease. Pictures here: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=potato+disease&source=lnms&tbm=isch https://www.google.com.au/search?q=potato+disease&source=lnm...
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    Seed potatoes are so inexpensive, it's not worth using old potatoes (though I have done that many times). I don't know where you live, but around here supermarkets will soon be selling 5lb bags of seed potatoes at comically low prices. It is ridiculously cheap to grow some staples: I can buy 100 onion sets for $2.00/bag at my local "pricy" feed store. Enough corn to plant an acre costs about $5, etc...
- irish_lad 11y ago
  True but let's not put all the blame on the potato. During the Famine years Ireland was a net exporter of food...
  - johnchristopher 11y ago
    But was it food that could have fed the population or luxury food (spices, cacao or something like coffee beans) ?
    - irish_lad 11y ago
      No it was your typical farm food (cattle, grain etc.). Most of these shipments were under armed guard by British soldiers. There was no shortage of food. Whilst the famine itself was devastating, the results were politically motivated and driven.
    - masklinn 11y ago
      Grains and other edible crops (peas, onions), livestock, processed meat and produce (between January 1847 and September 1847, Ireland exported more than 7 million pounds of butter).
    - lmm 11y ago
      It was food that could have fed the population. In particular corn/wheat/other grains.
    - GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
      Are you familiar with (a) the climate of Ireland in the 19th century and (b) the growing conditions demanded by (most) spices, cacao, and coffee beans?
      - johnchristopher 11y ago
        Yes, I am.
        11y ago
JorgeGT 11y ago
However in many places people were unsure if they were fit for human consumption! For instance the Paris Faculty of Medicine only declared them edible in 1772 mainly by the efforts of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier. He did publicity stunts such as potato dinners featuring honorable gusts like Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin, or (my favorite) surrounding his potato garden with lots of guards... only to instruct them to accept any bribe and be extra sloppy guarding the garden, allowing interested villagers to "steal" the potatoes.
- erikb 11y ago
  Bribable guards. What a genius marketing campaign!
- kriro 11y ago
  Frederick the Great's "potato marketing" is a pretty great story. He was convinced the potato would help grow and nourish the population so he tried to enact it as "people food" via law. The people did not take to it. He then devised the genius plan of having potato fields guarded by soldiers who were secretly told to take naps and/or sleep at night and let people steal the potatoes. People being people some citizens figured it must be valuable and great stuff if it's guarded and the "hot new food of kings" spread pretty quickly. There's usually potatoes on his grave to this day :)

ekianjo 11y ago

> It's ability to feed many (being caloricly dense), as well as being fairly rugged allowed it to create Europe's population boom and urbanization when it was introduced there But don't forget to mention that Potato issues have caused massive immigration from Ireland in History (resulting in a large influx of Irish folks to North America): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)

prawn 11y ago
Whereas some things are fairly straightforward to grow from their own last-crop seeds, resowing potatoes from some you already have often results in disease. I grow a lot of different things in my backyard. From one lettuce, coriander, radish, pumpkin or tomato plant, I can collect loads and loads of seeds to regrow. In the case of a lettuce plant, it's thousands of seeds. Potatoes are trivial to grow from old shrivelled supermarket stock (and sometimes scraps with the eyes intact) but 80+% of crops I've grown this way have been riddled internally with disease. Pictures here: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=potato+disease&source=lnms&tbm=isch https://www.google.com.au/search?q=potato+disease&source=lnm...
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  Seed potatoes are so inexpensive, it's not worth using old potatoes (though I have done that many times). I don't know where you live, but around here supermarkets will soon be selling 5lb bags of seed potatoes at comically low prices. It is ridiculously cheap to grow some staples: I can buy 100 onion sets for $2.00/bag at my local "pricy" feed store. Enough corn to plant an acre costs about $5, etc...
irish_lad 11y ago
True but let's not put all the blame on the potato. During the Famine years Ireland was a net exporter of food...
- johnchristopher 11y ago
  But was it food that could have fed the population or luxury food (spices, cacao or something like coffee beans) ?
  - irish_lad 11y ago
    No it was your typical farm food (cattle, grain etc.). Most of these shipments were under armed guard by British soldiers. There was no shortage of food. Whilst the famine itself was devastating, the results were politically motivated and driven.
  - masklinn 11y ago
    Grains and other edible crops (peas, onions), livestock, processed meat and produce (between January 1847 and September 1847, Ireland exported more than 7 million pounds of butter).
  - lmm 11y ago
    It was food that could have fed the population. In particular corn/wheat/other grains.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
    Are you familiar with (a) the climate of Ireland in the 19th century and (b) the growing conditions demanded by (most) spices, cacao, and coffee beans?
    - johnchristopher 11y ago
      Yes, I am.
      - 11y ago

JorgeGT 11y ago

However in many places people were unsure if they were fit for human consumption! For instance the Paris Faculty of Medicine only declared them edible in 1772 mainly by the efforts of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier. He did publicity stunts such as potato dinners featuring honorable gusts like Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin, or (my favorite) surrounding his potato garden with lots of guards... only to instruct them to accept any bribe and be extra sloppy guarding the garden, allowing interested villagers to "steal" the potatoes.

erikb 11y ago
Bribable guards. What a genius marketing campaign!
kriro 11y ago
Frederick the Great's "potato marketing" is a pretty great story. He was convinced the potato would help grow and nourish the population so he tried to enact it as "people food" via law. The people did not take to it. He then devised the genius plan of having potato fields guarded by soldiers who were secretly told to take naps and/or sleep at night and let people steal the potatoes. People being people some citizens figured it must be valuable and great stuff if it's guarded and the "hot new food of kings" spread pretty quickly. There's usually potatoes on his grave to this day :)