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Topic: Year of the Potato

On this first day of the new year, we join the United Nations in heralding the International Year of the Potato. The lowly potato—which, in the words of the resolution establishing 2008 as the year of the potato, provides food security and alleviates poverty—is eaten the world over. It provides potassium, has more protein than other root vegetables, and is rich in vitamin C. 80% of the world's potatoes are grown in Asia and Europe; the number one tuber-grower? China.

The birth of the potato traces back to the Andes mountains of South America, circa 6,000 B.C. That's when hunters and gatherers began domesticating the wild tuber plant growing a mile and a half above sea level. Over time, Incan farmers devised a method of freeze-drying a potato that could sustain the community through hard times, and they measured time by how long it took a pot of potatoes to cook.

When Spanish invaders conquered the Incans in the 16th century, they applied the Taino word batata, originally used for a sweet potato cultivated in the Caribbean, to its white-fleshed South American equivalent; that name, altered to patata, and the vegetable it designated, were brought home to Europe, where English speakers turned it into potato.

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