But then there's a lot to be said for grain products too:
I mean, civilization, right?
Posted on 05/23/2016 4:55:48 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Brian Fagan wrote a nice chapter (not sure which book) about the early adopters of the potato, namely, the Irish — while the rest of You-Rope regarded the potato as, at best, animal feed, the Irish were growing, shipping, and refining their crop, until, whoopsie, accidental genocide.
OTOH, my Irish ancestors left Ireland for America much earlier, probably on the run from the law, or transported. :’)
Population in Ireland
http://www.grantonline.com/grant-family-genealogy/Records/population/population-ireland.htm
http://www.grantonline.com/grant-family-genealogy/Records/population/population-ireland-1100-200.jpg
http://www.mapspictures.com/ireland/history/ireland_population.php
http://www.mapspictures.com/ireland/history/imgCF.gif
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/famine/demographics_pre.html
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/charts/population_1700_2000.gif
Researchers Have Finally Solved The Mystery Of The Irish Potato Famine
http://www.livescience.com | 5-24-2013 | Denise Chow
Posted on 05/24/2013 9:45:13 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3023410/posts
Humble potato ‘must go to Africa’, Germany insists
EurActiv | 21 November 2013 | Dario Sarmadi
Posted on 11/21/2013 1:04:19 AM PST by Olog-hai
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3093790/posts
Thanks LS, I've never been a fan of Diamond.
Excellent!
It's an interesting if not amusing window into the English attitude. It also makes the Irish revolt against English rule quite understandable. You are entitled to occupy my country because I eat potatoes, really?
He does, indeed.
But then there's a lot to be said for grain products too:
I mean, civilization, right?
Obviously, the primary driver of civilization!
And, the Irish didn’t eat potatoes when the Cavanaugh dynasty invited the Normans over in the 11th century.
It is also difficult to build an empire with an army sustained by a rapidly decaying food supply.
Sometimes I lived on potatoes in college...my apartment was a couple blocks from a Shakey’s Pizza, and I could seldom afford the pizza, but they would give you a shoebox-sized container of seasoned home fries for $1.50 with blue cheese dressing...yum.
I’m pretty sure William of Orange didn’t invade Ireland because they were eating potatoes.
King Billy was chasing James II, who'd tried to reimpose Catholicism on the United Kingdom, and got chased right off the throne with the blessing of Parliament. By that time there had been a British crown presence in at least part of Ireland for centuries, and prior to the Normans, the Vikings were settled all over the place, especially along the coast.
It was a glorious revolution, wasn’t it?
James II and his army appears to have been, uh, overmatched.
Well, it really wasn’t fair, what with William bringing over all those ringers from the Netherlands.
Reminds me of grammar school word problems:
If 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, how many people working 8 hours a day for 3 weeks would it take to feed 475 people for 15 months?
No potatoes on Earth compare to the incredible Burbank Russets grown in Idaho’s Upper Snake River Valley. Take it from someone who’s picked and bagged about a zillion pounds of them — and eaten almost as many. Spuds from other areas are soggy mush, but to each his own.
The Idaho potatoes I’ve had are merely a vehicle for gravy or butter and salt. These Michigan potatoes are sweet and have so much flavor they don’t really need butter or salt. BUT...made in stew and then buttered with some of the stew gravy added...AMAZING!
All of what you wrote reminds me of my long-ago childhood in Bavaria. A barrel filled with sauerkraut in the cellar. Glass jars filled with preserved fruits and vegetables, legs of smoked ham hanging from the rafters in the storeroom, potatoes kept in the dark, onions plaited together, hanging by the door...the cattle in the barn and the hay shed filled with sweet smelling dry hay. The farmer worked all day during spring summer and autumn just to survive winter.
Necessity is the mother of invention...survival is the driving force.
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