Potatoes
History of
the Potato
1200s
The potato has been around for several thousands of years. It was
first known in a region of the
Andes
Mountains
of
South America
. The Incas Indians of Peru started growing potatoes in the 1200s.
1500s
The potato was discovered by the Spanish when they invaded the Inca Empire from
the years 1531-1535.
No-one is certain who first introduced the potato to
England. It probably came from the Spanish towards the end of the 16th
Century.
1660-1685
The value of potatoes as an important food source. It was recommended that
large quantities be grown in case of war or famine. A famine is a time
when there is not enough food for all the people.
1787
Potatoes were brought to
Australia
in 1787. Governor Phillip planted potatoes soon after his arrival in Sydney
Cove.
1845-1848
During this time the vast majority of the Irish population lived in poverty and
was totally dependent on the potato as a food source. When a disease called
"potato blight" destroyed crops in the years 1845, 1846 and 1848, many
thousands starved to death. Others were forced to leave Ireland and move to
North America or
Britain
.
1914-1918/1939-1945
During both World Wars the potato played an important role in providing food to
the English. Farmers grew millions of extra potatoes to feed the nation.
Potato Facts
- Potatoes
first appeared in Europe in 1586 and made it to
North America
in 1719.
- Thomas
Jefferson is given credit for introducing French Fries to
America
.
- The
potato chip celebrated it's 150th anniversary in 2003!
- How
to say 'potato' in other languages:
-
Pomme
de terre (French),
-
patata (Spanish),
-
panbowka (Polish) or
-
yang shee (Chinese).
- Germans
eat twice as many potatoes as Americans.
- Did
you know that in 1995 the potato was the first vegetable grown in outer
space?
- Did
you know the potato is related to the tomato and eggplant?
- Potatoes
are grown in approximately 125 countries around the world.
- Potatoes
are 80% water.
- The
world's largest potato chip is 2" thick and 14.5" inches long.
- According
to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest potato grown was 7 pounds
1 ounce (grown in
Great Britain
).
- The
potato was first established as a field crop in 1663 in
Ireland
.
- Mr
Potato Head was invented by Hasbro Toys in 1952.
- McDonalds
use 3.2 billion pounds of potatoes each year.
Information
for this web site was taken from Western Potatoes.