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The Sinister, Secret History Of A Food That Everybody Loves [the Curse of the Potato]
Washington Post 'blogs ^ | April 25, 2016 | Jeff Guo

Posted on 05/23/2016 4:55:48 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

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To: blam

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


41 posted on 05/23/2016 8:41:43 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: LS
Thanks LS, I've never been a fan of Diamond.

42 posted on 05/23/2016 9:24:05 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: Bigg Red
What's truly ironic is that the potato crop failures were caused by a disease (blight) that came from America.
God works in mysterious ways?
43 posted on 05/23/2016 10:07:51 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: Carthego delenda est

Excellent!


44 posted on 05/23/2016 10:34:14 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Keep calm and Pray on.)
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To: SunkenCiv
In his History of England, Macaulay basically devotes a chapter to his opinion that societies who eat bread as their staple starch are much more civilized than societies who eat potatoes dug out of the ground for heaven's sake. Which is one very important reason why the English were destined to rule over those benighted potato eating Irish.

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?

45 posted on 05/23/2016 10:38:44 AM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: oh8eleven

He does, indeed.


46 posted on 05/23/2016 10:39:21 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Keep calm and Pray on.)
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To: SunkenCiv
I dunno - there's a lot to be said for the noble tuber:

But then there's a lot to be said for grain products too:

I mean, civilization, right?

47 posted on 05/23/2016 11:00:08 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Billthedrill

Obviously, the primary driver of civilization!


48 posted on 05/23/2016 11:20:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: colorado tanker

And, the Irish didn’t eat potatoes when the Cavanaugh dynasty invited the Normans over in the 11th century.


49 posted on 05/23/2016 11:22:13 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: eastforker

It is also difficult to build an empire with an army sustained by a rapidly decaying food supply.


50 posted on 05/23/2016 11:27:33 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain.)
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To: Straight Vermonter

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.


51 posted on 05/23/2016 11:43:09 AM PDT by BiggerTigger
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To: SunkenCiv

I’m pretty sure William of Orange didn’t invade Ireland because they were eating potatoes.


52 posted on 05/23/2016 12:12:28 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker
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.

53 posted on 05/23/2016 12:54:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: SunkenCiv

It was a glorious revolution, wasn’t it?


54 posted on 05/23/2016 2:44:49 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker
James II and his army appears to have been, uh, overmatched.

55 posted on 05/23/2016 3:06:24 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Well, it really wasn’t fair, what with William bringing over all those ringers from the Netherlands.


56 posted on 05/23/2016 3:34:36 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: SunkenCiv

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?


57 posted on 05/23/2016 5:08:29 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Love me, love my guns!�)
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To: stayathomemom

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.


58 posted on 05/23/2016 5:12:49 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: Bernard Marx

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!


59 posted on 05/23/2016 5:21:15 PM PDT by stayathomemom (Beware of kittens modifying your posts.)
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To: Hugin

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.


60 posted on 05/23/2016 7:07:24 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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