The potato was frst domesticated in the region o
modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern
Bolivia between 8000 and 000 B!"# $t has since spread around
the world and become a staple crop in many countries# $n South
America% potatoes provided the principal energy source or the $nca
"mpire% its predecessors% and its &panish successor#
How the Patato change the World
Patato in "urope The &panish brought potatoes to "urope
in the '(th century# "uropean consumers were reluctant to adopt the
potato# )owever% due to the sheer practicality o the
potato*adaptability% generally plentiul crops and relatively long
shel lie% combined with the nutritional value*it was soon widely
accepted and consumed# +hen potato plants bloom% they send up
fve-lobed ,owers that spangle felds lie at purple stars# B
some
• Today the potato is the fth most important crop worldwide%
ater wheat% corn% rice and sugar cane# But in the '8th century the
tuber was a startling novelty% rightening to some% bewildering to
others* part o a global ecological convulsion set o4 by !hristopher
!olumbus#
Fear of Potatoes
• $t is not unusual or new oods to be met with septicism and ear%
especially those arriving rom a strange% araway continent where
they are consumed by unciviliCed non-!hristian peoples# The potato%
however% had a tougher battle or acceptance than many other
oodstu4s introduced rom the /mericas# /side rom its odd%
unaesthetic appearance and initially bitter taste% the tuber
was
eared or a variety o reasons# &ince it was not mentioned in the
Bible% it was oten associated with the devil# /s a conseDuence% in
the north o $reland and in &cotland% Protestants ,atly reused
to
plant them# $n !atholic $reland% to be on the sae side% peasants
sprinled their seed potatoes with holy water and planted them on
5ood 3riday#
• /nother source o preEudice against the potato was its membership
in the nightshade amily% which includes a number o poisonous
members> deadly nightshade belladonna% which is
poisonous;%
mandrae nown as a soporifc and ertility drug;% tobacco% and henbane
poison;# &ome o these substances have traditionally been
associated in various cultures with magic and witchcrat# $n many ol
belies there is a grain o truth# &olanine% contained in the
tubers and common to all plants in the
nightshade amily% is indeed a poison# Fnlie modern potatoes% which
contain only a nonharmul trace amount% tubers o the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries had much higher levels% not enough to cause
death% but sometimes a rash appeared# That led to its association
with the
deadliest disease o the time% leprosy# &o great was the ear
that% when 3rederic the 5reat o Prussia ordered his people to plant
potatoes in 'G??% they pulled them up# 3rederic was orced to
post
soldiers to guard the crops# Ten years later% in 'G?% the ing o
&weden also ordered his subEects to grow potatoes# Het% when
amine struc Iolberg in 'GG?% wagonloads o potatoes sent by
3rederic
were reEected#
/ll over "urope% it was believed that the potato plant would
The Potato in Time of War "uropeans Duicly discovered that the
potato a4orded them a military advantage9 it was ideally suited to
combat starvation caused by war# Auring the Autch +ars '(GK'(07;%
or example% &panish soldiers crossed the /lps on oot rom $taly%
marching north through 3ranche !omptJ% /lsace% and the @hinelands#
2illagers along the route Duicly discovered that tubers carried by
the soldiers could be planted% hidden underground% and dug as
needed% unlie grain# :early every military venture ater about '(0%
including +orld +ar $$% resulted in more acreage being planted in
potatoes#
Cultivating Potatoes
&aster &anagement si Agri'usiness
Proiect &ateria #ngle-a