04/10/2023
Some potato info :) 🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
Potatoes of Peru and Bolivia
The potato is a starchy root vegetable that is native to the Andes Mountains of South America. The potato was first domesticated by indigenous people in what is now Peru and Bolivia about 7,000 to 10,000 years ago.
The Incas, who ruled a vast empire in the Andes from the 12th to the 16th centuries, were skilled farmers who cultivated many varieties of potato for their own use and for trade. The potato was an important part of their diet, and they developed many ways of preparing it, including boiling, roasting, and drying it into a type of potato flour called chuño.
The precise identity of these people is not known, as there were many different cultures and ethnic groups living in the Andes at the time. However, it is believed that the potato was first domesticated in the region that is now Peru and Bolivia, and that the Incas, who ruled over a vast empire in the Andes from the 12th to the 16th centuries, were among the early cultivators of the potato. Other indigenous groups, such as the Aymara and Quechua peoples, also played a role in the domestication and cultivation of the potato.
Sweet potato side note: There is evidence that Polynesian people did bring a variety of other crops with them when they migrated to the Pacific islands, including taro, sweet potato, yam, and breadfruit. These crops played an important role in the diet and culture of the Polynesian people and continue to be important crops in many Pacific island countries today. There is some evidence to suggest that sweet potatoes were being grown in the Polynesian islands as early as the 12th century AD. Sweet potato remains have been found in archaeological sites in Hawaii, New Zealand, and other Pacific islands dating to this time period.
In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America and brought the potato back to Europe. However, the potato was initially met with suspicion and resistance from many Europeans, who viewed it as a strange and potentially dangerous food. It was not until the 18th century that the potato became widely accepted as a food crop in Europe, and it eventually became one of the most important crops in the world.
Today, the potato is a staple food in many parts of the world and is grown in almost every country. It is used in a wide variety of dishes, from mashed potatoes to french fries to potato chips, and is an important source of nutrition for millions of people.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), global potato production in 2020 was approximately 388 million tonnes. This makes the potato one of the most important food crops in the world, with production occurring in almost every country.
China is the world's largest producer of potatoes, followed by India, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Other major potato producing countries include Germany, France, Poland, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom.
