Did you know that 2008 is the International Year of the Potato? This may be a great opportunity to inform your students about the history and nutrient value of this very important food. Did you know that... The potato came from a high plateau in the Andean Mountains of South America (between Peru and Bolivia). The potato was the basis of the Aymara Indian and Incan diet. The Spanish Conquistadors found the potato (rather than silver or gold), served it on their ships, and soon found that the sailors did not suffer from scurvy. Scurvy is a disease associated with too little Vitamin C, and since potatoes have a lot of Vitamin C, scurvy was prevented. After the potato became popular in Europe, it was later taken to America by the European immigrants throughout the 1600’s, but it was not until 1719 when Irish immigrants brought the potato to Londonderry, New Hampshire, where the potato was grown on a large scale.
In the 1800’s Irish peasants were eating a daily average of 10 potatoes per person, or about 80% of their diet. It was in the 1840’s that a microscopic fungus and heavy rains rotted the potato crops in the ground, hence the historic potato famine. Today scientists are constantly developing and studying new ways of preventing a potato disaster from happening.
Check out the International Year of the Potato website because it is full of information!
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