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

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

[SunkenCiv]

These maps show a clear correlation between crop choice and political complexity. Societies that grew grain tended to have more hierarchical political systems -- empires, even -- like the rice- and wheat-cultivating kingdoms of ancient India. Tuber crops were associated with smaller, more local political units.

[SunkenCiv]

If you're not on the GGG list and got pinged, it's a one-timer, due to a recent interesting conversation over in that topic about Home Depot. :') Oh, and I pinged our pingmeister for the FR Gardening list.

[petercooper]

Yum.

Fried Potatoes: French fries and potato chips contain a toxin called acrylamide, a chemical used to produce plastics and dyes. Acrylamide causes DNA damage, which can result in reproductive damage and cancer.

When starchy foods are heated to high temperatures, they spontaneously form acrylamide, even though none was present in the raw ingredients. Both American and European scientists agree that the foods with the highest levels of acrylamide include french fries and potato chips.

Additionally, deep fried foods are high in liver-toxic lipid peroxides (rancid fats, which are immuno-suppressive and damage liver cell membranes) and trans-fatty acids (which suppress the production of PGE1, an important liver-protecting prostaglandin).

[Paladin2]

Looks like hardly anyone had to eat their vegetables....

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks petercooper.

[SunkenCiv]

Well, it was centuries before Ranch Dressing, so...

[eastforker]

One thing about grains is that they can be stored almost indefinitely if kept dry, could be traded as a commodity and carried over from one season to the next in case of famine. The tubers not so much. Vast amounts of grain would create a more complex society than rotting potatoes.

[left that other site]

Indeed, but the toxicity of acrylamide can be immediately ameliorated by the liberal addition of an aggregate of high-fructose corn syrup, sodium chloride, and the extract of the highly acidic tomato, which goes by the commercial name derived from Southeast Asian Fish Sauce, which the late nineteenth century colonial imperialists co-opted, and bowdlerized its traditional nomenclature. This life-giving substance was further exploited by the ancestors of the current Secretary of State’s wife, and has become a staple in American Cuisine. I am, of course, referring to Ketchup.

/satire...but I am sure you already KNEW that! LOL.

[stayathomemom]

Off topic I know, but Michigan potatoes are the best.

[tbw2]

Centralized grain storage provides a dietary equivalent of a water empire. Easy to defend, and easier for one small group to control.

[bert]

American knowhow solved the problem

[Daffynition]

a vote for Maine potatoes; Canadian are very good too. :)

[SunkenCiv]

Actually, I agree with that. And even with the winters here, they are perennial. Good idea to move the beds every year anyway.

[marktwain]

Everything is toxic in sufficient ammounts. Ingest too much water, and it will kill you.

The dose makes the poison. Many chemicals are beneficial in small amounts and toxic as the dose increases.

Without knowing what dose produces toxic results, claims of toxicity are worthless.

[stayathomemom]

I can't always find them at our local Kroger, but Meijer, which is a Michigan company, carries a lot of locally grown produce. The Michigan potatoes may not look as beautiful, but they are sweet and flavorful. I will sometimes eat them without butter or salt.

[Daffynition]

Rarely can I find Maine potatoes in Connecticut.

But when I go to NH, about once a month, I can usually find them in markets there, and I stock-up.

We had a fair amount of Canadian produce here, last fall....which is wonderful; I prefer it over produce from Cali and Florida.

[oh8eleven]

[the Curse of the Potato]
If it wasn't for the Irish potato (famine), I'd probably be living in a house with a thatched roof.

[LS]

In my class (that I used to teach) I dealt with food and early military power and intuitively KNEW Jared Diamond was wrong-—but didn’t have specific evidence. This is it. Victor Hanson is right, it is culture not “luck.”

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

:: Additionally, deep fried foods are high in liver-toxic lipid peroxides ::

Hey! Leave my relationship with Grandma Pogue alone! She takes special care of my liver every night.

[blam]

Because of the potato (and the associated Irish famine) there are less people living in Ireland today than there was in 1840.
The population of Europe 'exploded' with the introduction of the potato.