While potatoes spread around the world unintentionally, it became famous because of the hard work of many people though unknown Spanish conquers who conquered Inca empire in 1532-33 played a special part.

Potatoes were first cultivated around 4500 years ago but the exact trace after that remains unknown until they were cultivated by Inca people on Andes mountains (present day Peru). It was a staple food for them, an important part of their diet and turned into potato flour (chuno) which were even used as taxes.

Spanish got introduced to potatoes in Ince empire and brought it back to Europe. Spanish found how easy it to store and long lasting chuno were, it helped them in their sea travels without going hungry. They travelled around the world using ‘Spanish Road’ and letting potatoes taking root in different countries throughout their journey.

At first, because of unfamiliarity and ‘ugly image’ they were seen with suspicion but farmers couldn’t resist the benefit, after all, potatoes were easy to cultivate in large quantities and provided nutrients much needed for labor work. They were enough to feed the family and were easy on pockets compared to crops like wheat, barley, etc.

The lead man in the movement of spreading popularity was, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier. Antoine ate potato for the first time in the jail, when he was imprisoned during Seven Years War and he loved it so much that he made it a life mission.

But people outside did not think like it because potatoes were banned, so after getting released he came up with an idea. He grew potatoes in his plot and hired guards to guard it.

The trick worked, people thought something valuable were hidden in the land and bribed guards to give them some of the ‘valuable’, not knowing it was a part of the plan as well (reverse psychology). His work even managed to convince King Louis XVI of France to remove the ban on potatoes.

In Prussia, realizing the benefit of the plant, Frederick II the Great issued ‘The Potato Order’ for the spread of potatoes and asked his people to cultivate potatoes. The Queen of France, Marie Antoinette wore a headdress of potato flowers at court ball to advertise the plant.

HOW POTATOES IMPACTED THE WORLD

It is world’s fourth most important crop and produced by countries like Russia, India and China.

Ireland history is largely impacted by the potatoes, showing us both how potatoes changed their lives for better and yet for worse later.

Potatoes were first introduced in Ireland in 1600s in the war-situation and were quickly accepted by people. The fields and crops were often destroyed in the chaos but the potatoes, hidden underground would survive and people would dig them. They played an important role during famines which helped European nations a lot by reducing rural starvation.

During both world wars, potatoes saved thousands of lives as a potato field of same acreage as other crops like wheat, maize, etc, could feed five times as many people.  

From commercial point of view, living on potatoes were cheaper and the Irish people who cultivated it were highly dependent on it, making the labor cheaper for Englishmen. Of course, highly dependent on a single crop can have a negative impact and it happened the blight destroyed potato plants in Ireland in 1845. It changed the diet and showed the consequences of being highly dependent on single crop. The Great Famine costed 2-3 million lives and ignited people of Ireland to gain independence from British rule. Henceforth, while potatoes remained a staple food, it never replaced other grains.     

Citation

Mcneill, W. H. (1999). How Potato changed the world’s history. Soc Res (New York).

(May 2023). Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, the Man Who Made Potatoes Popular in France. vivsfrenchadventures.wordpress.com

The History of the Potato. Fullerton School District

How the Potato Changed World History. KidsGardening.org

Ortiz, D. A. (March 2020) How the humble potato changed the world. BBC