The tuber spread through Europe in the 17th and 18th century, where it gradually became an important staple crop as it put an end to widespread famines. From 1750- 1850 the population almost doubled.
In England the industrial revolution really got rolling when farmers switched to easier-growing potatoes and thereby were able to work for wages in the cities.
The Irish and Dutch thrived on boiled potatoes; and if served with milk it was a completely adequate diet. The potato was the staff of life for the Irish peasant. An average adult ate 9 to 14 lbs a day.

Vincent van Gogh

The invaluable MIRACLE crop: Solanum tuberosum

PER ACRE—potatoes provide more energy and protein than
other crops and can feed a family of four - year round

Potatoes can be grown in the most inhospitable environments because they are incredibly resilient

The potato conquest of the world

Europeans planted the first potatoes in North America in the 18th century
Potatoes had reached India by the 17th century most likely on Portuguese ships
Dutch traders introduced potatoes to South Africa in the 17th century
Captain James Cook carried potatoes on his ship when he claimed Australia for Britain in 1770
Potatoes reached China in the 17th century

The shift from eating MEAT to PLANT foods
From FORAGING to FARMING
Harvesting—SURPLUS PRODUCTS—necessitated
“artificial” food storage facilities

FOOD SECURITY

Food crisis can lead to mass migration as people are FORCED to move in search of food (jobs!). So food security is the basis of national security, especially for China, the most populous country in the world. What will happen if the people don’t have enough food?----(Eat Thy Neighour –?—see book cover)
Well, the trend toward rising consumption of MEAT must be reversed. And to start with, raising animals to be slaughtered for religious purposes should be abolished.
Populations suffer if density increases; therefore family planning is a necessity (female infanticide was an ancient birth control method—no available womb, no child), and this in turn creates a new life-style: choice of foods and eating habits.

Potatoes are propagated (vegetative) by planting pieces of the plant-stem (tuber).
The buds on the tuber will sprout and produce new plants. The tubers are clones.

Remote regions benefit from planting TPS—true potato seed. The seed is collected from “pollinated” berries under controlled conditions. One generous handful of TPS suffices for 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of land. However, planting of TPS is more labor-intensive than planting pieces of cloned-tubers. First, using shallow flats, plants are grown from seeds to produce “seedling tubers”. These are then ‘planted out’ in the field to produce a mature crop. The good news is that farmers can sell the ‘infant seed tubers’ on the market, just as our nurseries sell ‘infant tomato and other vegetable plants’ to be set out by us—hardy gardeners, so we can enjoy picking and eating home-grown produce.

The International Potato Center (Lima, Peru) opened (2010) an Asia branch in Beijing, China.

CHINA is aiming to produce 130 million tons of potatoes by 2020. They are promoting the potato as a staple food to substitute the popular “grains” rice and wheat (noodles). An acre yields almost as much food as two acres of grain and plants mature faster than rice and wheat—edible tubers can be harvested after a mere 60 days.
China is the world leader in potato and sweet potato production

Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory at the John Innes Centre plant research institute in Norwich, England, have bred a genetically modified potato ‘immune to famine fungus’ (caused by the organism Phytophthora infestans) that was responsible for the great Irish famine of 1845. Late blight struck down the harvested tubers as well as those still in the ground and they rotted, sending an unbearable stench across the land. The potato crop failed across Europe, and mass starvation was followed by pestilence.

The genetically modified INNATE POTATO (developed by J.R. Simplot Company) was approved by the FDA in 2015. It is designed to resist blackspot bruising, browning and to contain less of the amino acid asparagine that turns into acrylamide during the frying of potatoes.

The INNATE potato is not a plant pest and will not adversely affect other plants or the environment. Actually, it reduces waste of billions of potatoes discarded each year by consumers. It also cuts the use of chemical sprays.

WINDS OF CHANGE

SPACE FARMING

The International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru and Nasa plan to grow potatoes in Mars-like conditions—by using soil sourced from the Pampas de La Joya Desert in Peru—in a laboratory to save millions of lives on Earth where malnutrition is rampant.
Scientists intend building a controlled dome on the red planet capable of farming this invaluable crop.

SPUDS are cheap and popular all over the world—for frying, soups, salads, roasting, dumplings, bread, casseroles and pancakes as well as mashed with butter and garlic (my favorite).

POMME DE TERRE
“Apple of the earth”

In France, the potato is the key vegetable in their great cuisine. Cooking school students are required to prepare potato dishes for graduation—finishing with a potato dessert!

Quinoa: the gluten-free grain of the Andes
Considered a sacred crop—goosefoot family—quinoa is a super grain. It is one of the best sources of protein in the vegetable kingdom as it is a complete protein: it contains all the essential amino acids—high in magnesium, B2, riboflavin and iron. The SEED is tiny and tastes like a nut, is low in calories and has high fiber content; it can be cooked in the same way as rice or lentils, made into flour, added to soups, salads and baked goods.
The UN declared 2013 as “The International Year of Quinoa”