posted by admin on Jul 8
This Year is the Year of the Potato!!
This root vegetable is a member of the nightshade flowering plant family (a herbaceous annual for those allotment holders among us) - and was first found to be edible around 8,000 years ago local to Lake Titicaca in what is now Peru and Bolivia.
It was cultivated by the indigenous peoples in the area for years, only making it the Europe around the 15th century - and which made Sir Walter Raleigh famous (before the Queen of England had him killed!!!)
The Potato today:
The UK is the currently the 11th biggest grower in the world with 5.5 million tonnes of potatoes being produced a year. China is number 1 at the moment, with around 70 million potatoes grown a year! The UK is losing it’s leading edge in more ways than one - and there are only around 3000 growers at the moment compared to 70,000 in the last century.
Worldwide stats show that 75,000 square miles of spuds are grown across the globe every year, with at least 7,500 varieties being cultivated by various growers. These include King Edwards, Jersey Royals, desiree, roosters, piper maris, osprey, and new Mayan Gold.
Potatoes are the 4th most important crop to the human population this century, coming after maize, wheat and rice respectively - although with the current ‘food crisis’ this could be set to change with production of all being drastically increased to keep up with demand.
Grow Your Own?
Potatoes - unlike other crops - thrive in most locations with very little human help - and they are very nutritious too with high potassium levels, high vitamin c content and different beneficial fibres to name a few.
As a result, their use is increasing in developing worlds, but for unknown reasons ‘use’ is decreasing in the west. There are currently school drives underway, that are encouraging kids to grow and eat their own potatoes instead of eating white rice and pasta which are generally fatty and high in calories (rice breaks down into sugar very easily).
Just stick some ’seed potatoes’ or just some old potatoes you forgot to eat that are sprouting ‘eyes’, into some deep earth trenches spaced apart and cover over. Water the earth when dry (preferably at night so the water gets into the ground rather than evaporating in the sun) and soon you will have shoots. When the plants get around 20 cm’s high, bank up some earth around the stem to support the plant tops and keep watering the earth.
When the plants start to look withered or start to droop, check under the soil at the top for any potatoes - if you like what you see - dig them up and cook that day for the best taste! You can store them in a very dark, cool spot for a few days. Don’t pick too many at once - just leave them in the ground until you need them……
The Future for Potatoes:
With more mouths to feed and less land and energy to use for crops - current thinking is aimed towards genetic manipulation of vegetables and animals to maximise yield. By creating crops that can produce more seeds for the next crop, or making plants that need less water, or grow in colder climates, more food can make it to the people who need it.
In developed world, we generally pay for whatever we want, whether it’s out of season or difficult to grow with low yeilds - we just pay more. Whereas in developing countries communities can only survive if their crops are suited to the land and they grow enough of them each season.
Should we change our views??
A survey by the institute of Grocery Distribution asks 4000 shoppers every year about their habits regarding brands of food - and for the first time EVER they rated the ethics of a brand over the quality. This means that people would rather choose products that are ethical and natural (paying more if they have to) than buy cheaper varieties that have been treated with chemicals or manipulated genetically to improve yield. So will GM potatoes make it in the real world?
With many huge benefits to the growing human population in developing countries - including disease resistance and better growth - will these ‘changes’ outweigh the cost of limited food? Would you rather pay more money for less product - or pay less for greater amounts of genetically manipulated foods?
Many site are offering advice about growing, eating, and understanding new varieties and the science behind them - including the following: www.britishpotatoes.co.uk, www.potatoesforschools.org.uk and www.bbcgoodfood.com.
Would you buy GM??
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