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> There are around 140 species of wild potato in South America, growing from Mexico in the north all the way down to Argentina and Chile in the south. Super ni
by pm90 1y ago
> There are around 140 species of wild potato in South America, growing from Mexico in the north all the way down to Argentina and Chile in the south.
Super nit, but do authors think Mexico is in South America?
- cariaso 1y agoI can easily forgive the statement you highlighted, but there is zero information about potatoes in this one: Along with wheat, maize and rice, they are estimated to account for up to 80% of all calories eaten by people worldwide.
- foobar1962 1y agoI picked that up too. Awkward. I think they mean that 80% of all calories are provided by wheat, maize, rice, and potatoes.
- darth_aardvark 1y agoYeah, but that statement is basically information-free re: potatoes. "Boiled squid liver is a popular food. Along with wheat, maize, rice, and potatoes, they make up 80% of all calories eaten by people worldwide." is technically true, but doesn't tell you anything about boiled squid liver consumption.
- allturtles 1y agoFWIW, the data I found puts potatoes at 1.7% of world calorie consumption [0], but also puts the sum of maize+wheat+rice+potatoes at closer to 50% than 80%. [0]: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-important-staple-foods-in-the-world.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-important-staple-fo...
- throw310822 1y agoI interpreted it as "they're part of the class of foods that, depending on the culture, can make up to 80% of the calories of each meal'.
- driggs 1y agoThe point is that potatoes are one of the top 4 food sources worldwide, and they collectively dwarf the percentages of the long tail of other food sources. Proportions vary significantly continent-to-continent and culture-to-culture, such that it'd be more meaningless to try and put a more precise (but less accurate) number on it. This is not difficult to parse out of the sentence if you choose to take a charitable rather than a pedantic perspective, which I recommend to you generally.
- kgwgk 1y agoBy "in South America" they meant "South of America" :-)