Please Explain by Karl Kruszelnicki

Author:Karl Kruszelnicki
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Non-Fiction, Science
ISBN: 9780730445210
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2010-04-30T14:00:00+00:00

History of the Potato

The potato actually came from South America, having been cultivated there for about 8000 years. In fact, the Peruvians have been freeze-drying potatoes for over 2000 years. There are approximately 13 000 different varieties of potato, with only 8000 in common use. When the greedy Spanish Conquistadors invaded South America in the early 1500s, they were looking for gold and silver, ignoring the humble potato that they trampled under their feet. But today’s annual potato crop of approximately 300 million tonnes is worth three times all of the precious metals that the Conquistadors stole. The Inca empire was crushed and the Spanish empire has in turn faded away, but King Potato still reigns supreme. There was some resistance to this new vegetable, when it was introduced into Europe. For example, the Scots shunned the potato because it was not specifically mentioned in the Bible. However, the potato had some undeniable advantages over other crops. Not only can the potato be grown at sea level and up to an altitude of 4.2 km, but it will also produce 4–5 times the yield of rice and wheat. For this reason the potato was eventually accepted.

There was even the Potato War in 1788. The Prussians and the Austrians fought each other until their armies ran out of potatoes to feed the soldiers. The soldiers then simply walked away from the battlefield, leaving it deserted.

Potatoes eventually became essential to Europe. In fact, the Industrial Revolution could not have happened without the potato—a cheap and hardy source of food for the new workers who had been funnelled into the cities.

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