The United Nations declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato (IYP) in an effort raise the awareness of the "importance of the potato".
Potatoes were domesticated in the Andes over 8000 years ago and were brought over to Europe in the 15th century. Potatoes have slipped in popularity in Latin America, even though Peru is home to 500 varieties of tubers. Hopefully, the attention of IYP with bolster the power of the potato both in Latin America and around the world.
The four major reasons for declaring 2008 the time of the tator the UN gives on the official IYP website are as follows:
Potatoes are grown world wide
Potatoes are the planet's fourth food crop after maize, wheat, and rice and are grown from "from China's Yunnan plateau and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java's equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine" on 75000 square miles of farmland.
Potatoes feed the hungry
Pound for pound, the potato provides more nutrients, more reliably, more rapidly, and more resiliently (potatoes are thought to have prospered in 18th century Europe even through wars because they are protected underground from crop burning tactics) than any other major food crop. They can also be grown on less land and in harsher climates than any of the other majors.
Potatoes are good for you
Potatoes are great sources of carbohydrates, vitamin C, potassium, and "protein of a fairly high quality, with an amino-acid pattern that is well matched to human requirements". In fact, it would be possible, though monotonous, to survive solely on potatoes.
Demand for potatoes is growing
From fried to mashed to twice-baked to scalloped the potato is something to celebrate.
Also try out this recipe from Colombia called, sancocho!
For more information about potatoes, check out the official International Year of the Potato website or the Centro Internacianal de la Papa (International Potato Center) website.
