The PotatoHow the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World

By Larry Zuckerman

Brooke Szczygiel

Thesis

• The potato played a major role in the survival and growth of nations through its ability to grow, low cost, and nutrients.

Why potatoes are awesome

• The Spanish likely discovered the potato in 1533• In Spain workers treated plowing the fields as if it

were a ceremony.• Potatoes can survive in the worst conditions. • The Spanish introduced disease and pest-resistant

strands of the potato into Europe and North America.• The potato is nutrient rich.• It was the center of the altiplano (Spanish for high

plain) diet.

Potato Good?

• Columbus brought the sweet potato home to Spain in 1493 which was socially considered better than the Andean potato.

• Rumors were floating around that the potato was toxic, caused illness and was used for witchcraft.

• Unhealthy potato peals contained steroidal alkaloids called solanine.

How the Potato Effected Ireland

• Ireland was the first country where the potato became a field crop.

• Potatoes were eaten in the winter instead of oats.

• They were easy enough for a child to prepare. • They fed potatoes to their animals.• Ireland experienced a population explosion

which potatoes supported.• They created ridge planting “lazy bed”

The Great Famine

• In 1845 Europe was hit with the Great Famine.• The potato blight: All of a sudden, potatoes were

coming up no good.• Surprisingly, Ireland was the last country to be

effected. • This famine created the most struggle for Ireland

because they relied on the potato the most.• The Great Famine was much worse than any other

prior famine.• The potatoes came back in 1850

how the potato acted other than a food source

• The potato helped boost the economy of certain countries. (landlords and peasants)

• It stretched families’ budgets.• Enclosure: landowners made farms into large compact units.

– This saved time for farmers– Food prices rising. Landowners who had enclosed their holdings could

charge more for rent– Bread was super expensive so people needed the potato to take its place.

• Potatoes divided the social classes.

Why was the potato an “urban blessing” in England?!

• The population explosion.• The fast-paced life.• Unequipped lower-class housing.• Lack of culinary skill.• How cheap the potato was.• The nutritional benefits.• Baked potatoes also became considered a

delicacy because many cooks could not produce them.

So how did the humble spud rescue the western world?

• Ultimately, the potato saved the western world by supplying it with a nutrient rich food source that mainly kept populations steady by feeding the inhabitants. This resulted in encouraging economies and clearer divisions between the social classes.