Thursday, July 10, 2008

Potato Greatness

I am currently back in Pennsylvania. I have been eating some tremendous food since I arrived home. Also, being in the independence state has enabled me to purchase raw goat's milk and plenty of raw jersey milk from cows. I love it. It is a bit more humid here than in Kamloops. Below is a nice slide on potatoes and it is provided by the BBC. Very interesting and informative. I love when my mother's potatoes come in, especially the classic sweet potato. Occasionally, we end up with sweet potatoes around 2-3 pounds.

A Slideshow from the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/1.stm
The humble potato in all its thousands of varieties is gaining more and more importance as a food source for developing
nations, and the UN has declared 2008 the international year of the potato.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/2.stm
The tubers were first cultivated on the Altiplano of modern-day Peru and Bolivia, and after being introduced to Europe
around in the 16th Century, potatoes are now the world's third biggest staple food.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/3.stm
More potatoes are grown in developing countries than in the developed countries, providing poor nations with valuable
food and some income.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/4.stm
One of their big attractions is that potatoes provide higher yields in less time than other staple foods.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/5.stm
Amid the growing food crisis, potato prices have also remained relatively stable as they are not traded much across borders.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/6.stm
When boiled, a single medium-sized potato contains about 3g of protein, half the daily adult requirement of vitamin C,
and substantial amounts of vitamin B, as well as iron, potassium and zinc.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/7.stm
Pre-Incan cultures and the Incas used the freezing night temperatures and the hot sunshine of the daylight hours to
dehydrate and freeze-dry potatoes, a process that is still used today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/8.stm
About 130 countries are potato producers, growing a total of 315 million tonnes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/9.stm
China now is the world's largest potato producer, growing 70 million metric tonnes in 2006, but potatoes are
increasingly popular across Asia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_the_potato_/html/10.stm
Still, experts say it has yet to realise its full potential as a global food source.

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