Potato
by John A. Mazis
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Engraving of a potato plant from Caspar Plautius, Nova typis
transacta navigatio, Munich, 1621, opposite page 52.
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When historians examine the economic significance of plants found
in the New World, potatoes are viewed as being of lesser importance. This is only natural
since fortunes were not created through the cultivation of that particular plant. While tobacco,
sugar, and indigo (to name only a few plants important in early modern trade) became the
basis for the creation of plantations in the Americas, the potato did not achieve cash-crop
status. However, the potato invaded the Old World and became a staple in the diet of many
people, achieving importance second only to bread; today one cannot imagine life without it.
The potato’s success as food for the masses was not achieved overnight. For many
years the potato was considered to be unsuitable for human consumption. In the book The
History and Social Influence of the Potato (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1985), Redcliffe Salaman follows the history of the potato from its ancient roots to its
universal acceptance in the 20th century.
The Spanish came in contact with potatoes in the middle of the
16th century when they invaded Peru. The people of the Peruvian highlands had been
cultivating and eating potatoes for centuries. The Spanish recognized at once the importance
of the new crop as an easy to cultivate, abundant source of cheap food. The conquistadores
utilized potatoes as food for their slaves. Thus from the start potatoes were labeled as food for
the lower classes. That might explain, at least in part, why potatoes were not accepted in
Europe at once. It was only in 1620, almost a hundred years after its introduction to
Europeans, that Spain started using potatoes as food, and then only in hospitals for the poor.
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Woodcut of potatoes in Carolus Clusius, Rariorum plantarum
historia, Antwerp, Officina Plantiniana, 1601, p. Lxxix.
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Besides Spain, other colonial powers were introduced to the
potato. However, it seems that a certain ill repute accompanied the new crop. For that reason
Europeans were reluctant to use the potato in their diet. The English introduced potatoes as
food for the Irish, a subject race. The Germans, who were introduced to the potato by the
Dutch, used it as food for animals and prisoners. The French were unwilling to try the potato
as food until the late 18th century. A few unfortunate coincidences helped give the potato a
bad name. The physical appearance of the potato itself, full of eyes, resembled the appearance
of those humans who were afflicted with leprosy. Thus it was assumed that the potato was a
carrier of that disease. As late as 1768 the Swiss believed that potatoes caused another
disfiguring illness, scrofula. The leaves of the potato plant are poisonous; this is
nature’s way of protecting the potato from being eaten by animals. People assumed that
the potato itself must have also been poisonous. In some areas of Europe, notably Russia,
people believed that potatoes, which were not mentioned in the Bible, were unsuitable for
consumption by Christians.
During the European Enlightenment potatoes became acceptable
to the larger public. Within a few short years the potato had achieved prominence in the daily
diet of people; a position which it holds to this day.
