Origin
of potatoes
The
potato is the world’s fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and
maize. The Inca Indians in Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes around
8,000 BC to 5,000 B.C. In 1536 Spanish Conquistadors conquered Peru, discovered
the flavors of the potato, and carried them to Europe. Before the end of the
sixteenth century, families of Basque sailors began to cultivate potatoes along
the Biscay coast of northern Spain. Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to
Ireland in 1589 on the 40,000 acres of land near Cork. It took nearly four
decades for the potato to spread to the rest of Europe. In the 1840s a major
outbreak of potato blight, a plant disease, swept through Europe, wiping out
the potato crop in many countries. The Irish working class lived largely on
potatoes and when the blight reached Ireland, their main staple food
disappeared. This famine left many poverty-stricken families with no choice but
to struggle to survive or emigrate out of Ireland. Over the course of the famine,
almost one million people died from starvation or disease. Another one million
people left Ireland, mostly for Canada and the United States. A. Parmentier
helped King Louis XIV popularize the potato in France in the 18th century.
Parmentier created a feast with only potato dishes, a concept he realized was
possible when he was imprisoned in Germany and fed only potatoes. During the
Alaskan Klondike gold rush, (1897-1898) potatoes were practically worth their
weight in gold. Potatoes were valued for their vitamin C. And gold, at that
time, was more plentiful than nutritious foods! In October 1995, the potato
became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of
Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts
on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.Various
folk remedies recommend using potatoes for treating facial blemishes by washing
you face daily with cool potato juice; treating frostbite or sunburn by
applying raw grated potato or potato juice to the affected area; helping a
toothache by carrying a potato in your pocket; easing a sore throat by putting
a slice of baked potato in a stocking and tying it around your throat.
Give full
answers to the questions.
- Who was the first to cultivate
potatoes?
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- When were potatoes introduced
to Europe?
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- Where were potatoes grown at
the end of the 16th century?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
- What disease wiped out the
potato in many countries?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
- Why did Ireland suffer from
the potato disease the most?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
- How many people left the
country because of the famine?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
- Where did Parmentier find the
idea for his feasts?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
- What vitamin do potatoes have?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
- Did potato become the first
vegetable to be grown in space?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
- What illnesses can be cured
with potatoes?
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