The Sinister, Secret History Of A Food That Everybody Loves [the Curse of the Potato]

Washington Post 'blogs ^ | April 25, 2016 | Jeff Guo

[SunkenCiv]

"The Spaniards were much impressed with the productivity of manioc in Arawak agriculture in the Greater Antilles," historian Jonathan Sauer recounts in his history of crop plants. "[A Spanish historian] calculated that 20 persons working 6 hours a day for a month could plant enough yuca to provide cassava bread for a village of 300 persons for 2 years."

By all accounts, the Taíno were prosperous -- "a well-nourished population of over a million people," according to Sauer. And yet... lacked the monumental architecture of the Maya or the mathematical knowledge of the Aztec. And most importantly, they were not organized in the type of complex, far-reaching, hierarchical social structure that is considered one of the hallmarks of civilization and was far more widespread in Europe and Asia...

...the staple crops associated with less-advanced peoples -- like manioc, the white potato, the sweet potato and taro... are superstar crops, less demanding of the soil and less thirsty for water. These plants still feed billions of people today.

Now, a provocative new study suggests the fates of societies hinged on a subtler problem with these plants. And if it's right, it could dramatically complicate the popular theory of the agriculture-driven dawn of civilization that has appeared in textbooks for generations...

It's not that grains crops were much easier to grow than tubers, or that they provided more food, the economists say. Instead, the economists believe that grains crops transformed the politics of the societies that grew them, while tubers held them back...

But the fact that grains posed a security risk may have been a blessing in disguise. The economists believe that societies cultivating crops like wheat and barley may have experienced extra pressure to protect their harvests, galvanizing the creation of warrior classes and the development of complex hierarchies and taxation schemes...

[LadyDoc]

Nonsense. The potato wasn’t cultivated in these countries before 1700.

The cultures preceeded the potato.

[SunkenCiv]

Which countries?

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3433072/posts?page=49#49

[SunkenCiv]

If they’re mashed, more can be fed, particularly if there’s a pizza place nearby that delivers.

[SunkenCiv]

I thought ringers were from the Salvation Army...

[SunkenCiv]

BTW, speaking of the Glorious Revolution, learned something new from the wiki-wacky (I think I was looking for dates, but due to a need for sleep my mind was just fruiting out on me, and I can’t remember now):

Glorious Revolution of 1688
http://www.landofthebrave.info/glorious-revolution.htm

English Bill of Rights 1689
http://www.landofthebrave.info/bill-of-rights-1689.htm

Quartering Act of 1774
http://www.landofthebrave.info/quartering-act.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=Jacob+Leisler’s+Declaration

Leisler’s Rebellion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisler%27s_Rebellion

The Jacob Leisler Treason Trial, 1691
http://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/legal-history-eras-01/history-new-york-legal-eras-leisler.html

William Smith (1728-1793). The Rule of Jacob Leisler; and His Fate. Stedman and Hutchinson, eds. 1891. A Library of American Literature: An Anthology in 11 Volumes
http://www.bartleby.com/400/prose/332.html

[bramps]

Thanks for the info on potato’s.

I was just reading about bread and the article mentioned bread being starchy and heated at high temps. Would the same danger factors be involved in bread as with potato’s?

[SunkenCiv]

Russets are great as well, they get shipped here, it's a great variety. For some years now we've also enjoyed eating (and growing to eat) Yukon Gold, and I've grown some red and blue varieties for curiousity, kicks, and food.

[There are about three hundred times more than] Sixteen Kinds of Potatoes

[ApplegateRanch]

OTOH, the goose, deer & antelope, and bovine families don’t eat, trample, and make beds in growing potatoes.

[Bernard Marx]

One has to show pride in their home-grown favorites. There's a huge difference in Burbank Russets grown outside the specific area I mentioned. They may look the same but lack the special micronutrients found in the Snake River Valley's volcanic soil. They end up having too much water content and blah flavor. Unfortunately most of Idaho's best harvest is sold directly to major restaurant chains, making prime Russets hard to find in supermarkets these days...even in Idaho!

Yes, I'm familiar with the vast number of potato varieties. Potatoes even have a link to Polynesian migrations as you probably know. The proliferation of sweet potatoes in Oceania, which are native to South America, provide proof Polynesians visited South America.

[colorado tanker]

Very interesting. I did not know about Leisler or his rebellion.

As I recall at the time of the Revolution New Yorkers of the Reformed faith tended to be Patriots while C of E types gravitated toward the Tories.

[SunkenCiv]

And coconuts — they can’t just float to a new island and germinate, the salt water soak kills ‘em daid. They had to have been brought by boat.

[SunkenCiv]

That might explain the loyalties of the Penn Dutch (Germans) and descendants of the New Amsterdam Dutch.

[leaning conservative]

Cheers! Clink....

[skepsel]

From up around Alpena? They grow some pretty good spuds around Hastings FL too.

[stayathomemom]

The ones I can usually find are from southern Michigan, closer to the Ohio state line. I’ve got a feeling Meijer contracts with more local growers for their produce.