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International Year Of The Potato
Moderator: clayto
International Year Of The Potato
The following copied from the IYP website may be of interest.
Chris
http://www.potato2008.org
The IYP mission
Celebration of the International Year of the Potato (IYP) will raise awareness of the importance of the potato - and of agriculture in general - in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment.
Food prices are soaring worldwide, driven by fierce competition for reduced international supplies of wheat, maize and rice, and other agricultural commodities. As concern grows over the risk of food shortages and instability in dozens of low-income countries, global attention is turning to an age-old crop that could help ease the strain of food price inflation.
The potato is already an integral part of the global food system. It is the world's number one non-grain food commodity, with production reaching a record 320 million tonnes in 2007. Potato consumption is expanding strongly in developing countries, which now account for more than half of the global harvest and where the potato’s ease of cultivation and high energy content have made it a valuable cash crop for millions of farmers.
At the same time, the potato – unlike major cereals – is not a globally traded commodity. Only a fraction of total production enters foreign trade, and potato prices are determined usually by local production costs, not the vagaries of international markets. It is, therefore, a highly recommended food security crop that can help low-income farmers and vulnerable consumers ride out current turmoil in world food supply and demand.
In Peru, for example, the government has acted to reduce costly wheat imports by encouraging people to eat bread that includes potato flour. In China, the world's biggest potato producer, agriculture experts have proposed that potato become the major food crop on much of the country's arable land. India has plans to double its potato production.
Food of the future. The International Year of the Potato is raising awareness of the key role played by the "humble tuber" in agriculture, the economy and world food security. But it also has a very practical aim: to promote development of sustainable potato-based systems that enhance the well-being of producers and consumers and help realize the potato's full potential as a "food of the future".
Over the next two decades, the world's population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a year. More than 95 percent of that increase will occur in the developing countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. A key challenge facing the international community is, therefore, to ensure food security for present and future generations, while protecting the natural resource base on which we all depend. The potato will be an important part of efforts to meet those challenges...
Potatoes are a truly global food
The potato has been consumed in the Andes for about 8 000 years. Taken by the Spanish to Europe in the 16th century, it quickly spread across the globe: today potatoes are grown on an estimated 192 000 sq km, or 74 000 square miles, of farmland, from China's Yunnan plateau and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java's equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine.
Potatoes feed the hungry
The potato should be a major component in strategies aimed at providing nutritious food for the poor and hungry. It is ideally suited to places where land is limited and labour is abundant, conditions that characterize much of the developing world. The potato produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop - up to 85 percent of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereals.
Potatoes are good for you
Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, making them a good source of energy. They have the highest protein content (around 2.1 percent on a fresh weight basis) in the family of root and tuber crops, and protein of a fairly high quality, with an amino-acid pattern that is well matched to human requirements. They are also very rich in vitamin C - a single medium-sized potato contains about half the recommended daily intake - and contain a fifth of the recommended daily value of potassium.
Demand for potatoes is growing
World potato production has increased at an annual average rate of 4.5 percent over the last 10 years, and exceeded the growth in production of many other major food commodities in developing countries, particularly in Asia. While consumption of potato has declined in Europe, it has increased in the developing world, from less than 10 kg (22 lb) per capita in 1961-63 to almost 22 kg (48.5 lb) in 2003. Consumption of potato in developing countries is still less than a quarter of that in Europe, but all evidence suggests it will increase strongly in the future.
Chris
http://www.potato2008.org
The IYP mission
Celebration of the International Year of the Potato (IYP) will raise awareness of the importance of the potato - and of agriculture in general - in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment.
Food prices are soaring worldwide, driven by fierce competition for reduced international supplies of wheat, maize and rice, and other agricultural commodities. As concern grows over the risk of food shortages and instability in dozens of low-income countries, global attention is turning to an age-old crop that could help ease the strain of food price inflation.
The potato is already an integral part of the global food system. It is the world's number one non-grain food commodity, with production reaching a record 320 million tonnes in 2007. Potato consumption is expanding strongly in developing countries, which now account for more than half of the global harvest and where the potato’s ease of cultivation and high energy content have made it a valuable cash crop for millions of farmers.
At the same time, the potato – unlike major cereals – is not a globally traded commodity. Only a fraction of total production enters foreign trade, and potato prices are determined usually by local production costs, not the vagaries of international markets. It is, therefore, a highly recommended food security crop that can help low-income farmers and vulnerable consumers ride out current turmoil in world food supply and demand.
In Peru, for example, the government has acted to reduce costly wheat imports by encouraging people to eat bread that includes potato flour. In China, the world's biggest potato producer, agriculture experts have proposed that potato become the major food crop on much of the country's arable land. India has plans to double its potato production.
Food of the future. The International Year of the Potato is raising awareness of the key role played by the "humble tuber" in agriculture, the economy and world food security. But it also has a very practical aim: to promote development of sustainable potato-based systems that enhance the well-being of producers and consumers and help realize the potato's full potential as a "food of the future".
Over the next two decades, the world's population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a year. More than 95 percent of that increase will occur in the developing countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. A key challenge facing the international community is, therefore, to ensure food security for present and future generations, while protecting the natural resource base on which we all depend. The potato will be an important part of efforts to meet those challenges...
Potatoes are a truly global food
The potato has been consumed in the Andes for about 8 000 years. Taken by the Spanish to Europe in the 16th century, it quickly spread across the globe: today potatoes are grown on an estimated 192 000 sq km, or 74 000 square miles, of farmland, from China's Yunnan plateau and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java's equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine.
Potatoes feed the hungry
The potato should be a major component in strategies aimed at providing nutritious food for the poor and hungry. It is ideally suited to places where land is limited and labour is abundant, conditions that characterize much of the developing world. The potato produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop - up to 85 percent of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereals.
Potatoes are good for you
Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, making them a good source of energy. They have the highest protein content (around 2.1 percent on a fresh weight basis) in the family of root and tuber crops, and protein of a fairly high quality, with an amino-acid pattern that is well matched to human requirements. They are also very rich in vitamin C - a single medium-sized potato contains about half the recommended daily intake - and contain a fifth of the recommended daily value of potassium.
Demand for potatoes is growing
World potato production has increased at an annual average rate of 4.5 percent over the last 10 years, and exceeded the growth in production of many other major food commodities in developing countries, particularly in Asia. While consumption of potato has declined in Europe, it has increased in the developing world, from less than 10 kg (22 lb) per capita in 1961-63 to almost 22 kg (48.5 lb) in 2003. Consumption of potato in developing countries is still less than a quarter of that in Europe, but all evidence suggests it will increase strongly in the future.
clayto
Re: International Year Of The Potato
You cannie beat a good tattie! I'm growing four varieties this year, Rooster, Kerr pinks, and Marris piper in the ground, and a few Shetland black in barrels.
Until recently you could only get the Shetland black on the black market (scuse the pun) as the seed were not certified, they used to be kept out of sight under the stalls at the farmers markets.
After looking at the Thompson & Morgan websight, there must still be some kind of restiction on their distribution, as the website states, UK MAINLAND ONLY they don't have this restriction on other varieties
It's not a very good photo, when you cut one in half it's similar in colour to when you cut a red onion in half.
Until recently you could only get the Shetland black on the black market (scuse the pun) as the seed were not certified, they used to be kept out of sight under the stalls at the farmers markets.
After looking at the Thompson & Morgan websight, there must still be some kind of restiction on their distribution, as the website states, UK MAINLAND ONLY they don't have this restriction on other varieties
It's not a very good photo, when you cut one in half it's similar in colour to when you cut a red onion in half.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.
- Lifelinking
- Posts: 3248
- Joined: July 4th, 2007, 11:56 am
Re: International Year Of The Potato
mmmmmmmmmm
tatties
(btw - interesting post Clayto)
tatties
(btw - interesting post Clayto)
"Who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? It's what we have because we can't have justice."
William McIlvanney
William McIlvanney
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Excellent post! Our local Grocer in Kingussie understands potatoes and stocks several old fashioned varieties including Record, Kerr's Pinks and the king of them all, Golden Wonders, all strictly in season of course. He also stocks Cyprus potatoes which I hadn't had since my father gave up his business. We were happy to eat them at home because they were apparently grown from Scottish certified seed.
Supermarkets just don't seem to be able to stock quality potatoes.
Supermarkets just don't seem to be able to stock quality potatoes.
Carpe diem. Savour every moment.
Re: International Year Of The Potato
You aint wrong there, soft and sprouting are what's usually on offer. Fortunately we have the "farmers markets" where good tatties, neeps, and carrots, can always be got.Lewist
Supermarkets just don't seem to be able to stock quality potatoes.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Potato fans will know doubt already know this but just a note to tell others to keep potatos out of the fridge for storage purposes. Keeping them in the fridge can lead to health problems. Someone may like to look this up to back me up I think my source was reasonably reliable though.
There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover
The white cliffs of Dover
- Emma Woolgatherer
- Posts: 2976
- Joined: February 27th, 2008, 12:17 pm
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Well, it may be slightly more complicated and uncertain than that, Gregory. But the Food Standards Agency, which ought to be reliable, agrees with you. On it's Eat Well web site, it says:
And this is where it gets complicated. I don't know about you, but I don't have anywhere inside my house that's that cool, at least, not in summer. So I have the choice of putting them in the fridge or keeping them at room temperature, and if they're too warm they not only sprout but they can also go green, which may mean that the level of glycoalkaloids (especially solanine and chaconine) has increased. And glycoalkaloids are poisonous in large enough amounts. Although if you cut/peel off the green bits and deep-fry the potatoes then the glycoalkaloid levels should be lowered. But if you boil them, that doesn't have any effect on glycoalkaloid levels (see Wikipedia entry on solanine).
So, if the acrylamide doesn't get you, the glycoalkaloids will!
No, I exaggerate, of course. There's no evidence of people dropping dead of glycoalkaloid poisoning from eating potatoes stored at room temperature, just as there's no evidence, at least not yet, that eating chips made from potatoes stored in the fridge will give you cancer. Still, if you like your potatoes boiled, perhaps it's OK to keep them in the fridge (at the bottom, which is usually the warmest part); if you're a fan of chips, it might make better sense to store them in some dark place that's not the fridge, and just make sure you peel off any green bits. And if you're lucky enough to have an old-fashioned larder with marble shelves, or somewhere else where the temperature is around 7[--][/--]10 degrees Celsius, then that would be the best place for the tricky little blighters.
Emma
The Potato Council also points out that chips made from potatoes stored in the fridge will be dark-coloured and sweet-tasting. The same website also recommends storing potatoes at between 7 and 10 degrees Celsius.Acrylamide is a chemical found in starchy foods that have been cooked at high temperatures. These include crisps, chips, bread and crispbreads ... Acrylamide causes cancer in animals and so might also harm people's health ... [my emphasis]
Potatoes should be kept somewhere cool and dry but not in the fridge. This is because putting potatoes in the fridge can increase the amount of sugar they contain; this could lead to higher acrylamide levels when the potatoes are roasted, baked or fried at high temperatures [my emphasis].
Additionally, research carried out by the Agency has shown that if you are making your own chips, they contain less acrylamide when they are cooked to a lighter colour than chips cooked to a darker colour. You can also reduce acrylamide levels by soaking potatoes in water for 30 minutes before frying them.
And this is where it gets complicated. I don't know about you, but I don't have anywhere inside my house that's that cool, at least, not in summer. So I have the choice of putting them in the fridge or keeping them at room temperature, and if they're too warm they not only sprout but they can also go green, which may mean that the level of glycoalkaloids (especially solanine and chaconine) has increased. And glycoalkaloids are poisonous in large enough amounts. Although if you cut/peel off the green bits and deep-fry the potatoes then the glycoalkaloid levels should be lowered. But if you boil them, that doesn't have any effect on glycoalkaloid levels (see Wikipedia entry on solanine).
So, if the acrylamide doesn't get you, the glycoalkaloids will!
No, I exaggerate, of course. There's no evidence of people dropping dead of glycoalkaloid poisoning from eating potatoes stored at room temperature, just as there's no evidence, at least not yet, that eating chips made from potatoes stored in the fridge will give you cancer. Still, if you like your potatoes boiled, perhaps it's OK to keep them in the fridge (at the bottom, which is usually the warmest part); if you're a fan of chips, it might make better sense to store them in some dark place that's not the fridge, and just make sure you peel off any green bits. And if you're lucky enough to have an old-fashioned larder with marble shelves, or somewhere else where the temperature is around 7[--][/--]10 degrees Celsius, then that would be the best place for the tricky little blighters.
Emma
Re: International Year Of The Potato
What difference do the marble shelves make?Emma W wrote:...an old-fashioned larder with marble shelves...
Alan Henness
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
- Emma Woolgatherer
- Posts: 2976
- Joined: February 27th, 2008, 12:17 pm
Re: International Year Of The Potato
I'm not sure that they do. At least, not on their own. But larders were pretty effective at keeping things cool, back in the pre-refrigerator days. They were often on the north side of a house, with little windows with mesh screens over them to let in the cool night air, and tiled or stone or concrete floors, and at least one marble (or slate) shelf or slab.Alan H wrote:What difference do the marble shelves make?
As I understand it, but someone correct me if I'm wrong, the advantage of marble is its high thermal inertia (a consequence of its combination of low conductivity, high density and high specific heat), which makes it a good heat sink [---][/---] that is, it transfers heat away from anything warm or hot that it's in contact with, like flesh, or cheese, or pastry dough (or melted chocolate, fudge or toffee), or presumably air, without getting hotter itself. The high thermal inertia [---][/---] of the marble, the stone or tile floor and perhaps walls, too [---][/---] combined with the nighttime circulation of cool air, would presumably help the larder stay significantly cooler during the day. But I don't know how much lower the temperature in a good larder would be than in an ordinary kitchen. I only wish I had one so I could find out!
Emma
Re: International Year Of The Potato
We had a pantry with a marble shelf when I was growing up, my mother always put jelly on the shelf to set, no doubt it had other uses, but I only remember the jelly
We have a back porch that has quarry tiles on the floor and ceramic tiles on the walls, it's where we keep our vegies and where I put my home made wine to "clear, it's always pretty cool as it's at the north end of the house.
We have a back porch that has quarry tiles on the floor and ceramic tiles on the walls, it's where we keep our vegies and where I put my home made wine to "clear, it's always pretty cool as it's at the north end of the house.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Emma
I think you are spot on. I was being a bit mischievous [---][/---] I posed the question because some people think that marble is colder than its surroundings (and therefore better for rolling pastry, etc). I remember asking my boss many years ago which was colder: a metal filing cabinet or a wooden desk. Of course, the filing cabinet feels colder for the reasons you gave for marble, but it will be at the same temperature as the wooden desk (assuming they have been sitting together for a while and therefore in thermal equilibrium).
Alan C: if the shelf was high up, then that may be reason why your Mum put the jelly there [---][/---] out of your reach!
I think you are spot on. I was being a bit mischievous [---][/---] I posed the question because some people think that marble is colder than its surroundings (and therefore better for rolling pastry, etc). I remember asking my boss many years ago which was colder: a metal filing cabinet or a wooden desk. Of course, the filing cabinet feels colder for the reasons you gave for marble, but it will be at the same temperature as the wooden desk (assuming they have been sitting together for a while and therefore in thermal equilibrium).
Alan C: if the shelf was high up, then that may be reason why your Mum put the jelly there [---][/---] out of your reach!
Alan Henness
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
Re: International Year Of The Potato
I had a marble slab for years back in Cumbria, I swear it made better pastry than if you rolled it on the worktop.Alan H
I think you are spot on. I was being a bit mischievous — I posed the question because some people think that marble is colder than its surroundings (and therefore better for rolling pastry, etc).
Or maybe it was just a "placebo" effect?............Yeh, it must have been, cos pastry tastes just the same now (I left the marble slab behind when we moved).
Urban legend?
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.
Re: International Year Of The Potato
As Emma said, marble is a good conductor of heat, so even though it is at the same temperature as its surroundings, put something warmer on it and it will try to reach equilibrium with it by sucking any heat out of the pastry to bring it down to room temperature (after all the kneading and working, pastry is likely to be warmer that the rest of the kitchen). Use a wooden surface and the pastry will remain at the same temperature. So, marble may well make a difference (but not because it's colder than the kitchen).
Alan Henness
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
Re: International Year Of The Potato
This is directly comparable seats in Turkish baths (marble) and Swedish saunas (wooden). Thank goodness the seats aren't metal!
- Emma Woolgatherer
- Posts: 2976
- Joined: February 27th, 2008, 12:17 pm
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Oy, Alan H, are you being mischievous again?Alan H wrote:As Emma said, marble is a good conductor of heat ...
Actually, I didn't say it was a good conductor of heat; I said it had low conductivity. Maybe I should have said relatively low conductivity. To be more specific, its thermal conductivity is around 2 to 3 Watts per metre-Kelvin. Wood has a lower conductivity: 0.04-0.4 W/(m.K). But metals have higher conductivities. Lead is around 35 W/(m.K); aluminium is around 237 W/(m.K) and silver is 429 W/(m.K) (according to Wikipedia and some other source I can't find any more).
As I understand it, it's the combination of (relatively) low conductivity, high density and high specific heat that gives marble its useful thermal properties. And all three are important. Wood has low conductivity and high specific heat, but it also has relatively low density. (Marble has a density of 2,563 kilograms per cubic metre; pine is between 360 and 660 kg/m3.) Specific heat is the amount of heat energy needed to raise a unit of mass by a unit of temperature. So, even though wood has a higher specific heat (2 to 2.5 Joules per gram-Kelvin) than marble and aluminium (both around 0.9 J/(g.K)), because it's less dense it would take less heat energy to raise the temperature of wood than of marble per unit volume. To be specific, if we have a shelf a metre long, 25 cm deep and 2 cm thick, it would have a mass of about 3.3 kg if it were made of the densest pine, and around 12.8 kg if it were made of marble, so it would take 8.25 kilojoules to raise the temperature of the pine shelf by 1 Kelvin, and 11.52 kJ to raise the temperature of the marble shelf by 1 Kelvin.
And because marble has relatively low conductivity, as well as high density and high specific heat (i.e. it has a high thermal inertia), if a marble shelf in a larder starts out cold at the beginning of the day, then it takes a lot of heat energy, and a long time, for the temperature of the shelf to rise (a Watt, remember, is a Joule of energy per second). An aluminium shelf, which would have a similar density to the marble (although it wouldn't be so thick, so it would have a lower mass) and similar specific heat, would heat up much more quickly because it's a much better thermal conductor. A wooden shelf ...
Oh, dear, I've run out of steam. I'm so out of my depth, width and length here. Can this part of the thread be bunged somewhere in Science, so that someone who studied physics more recently than 1975 can tackle it?
[Edited to add:]
But surely it would be colder than the kitchen if it hasn't warmed up as much as the kitchen has.So, marble may well make a difference (but not because it's colder than the kitchen).
Emma
- Emma Woolgatherer
- Posts: 2976
- Joined: February 27th, 2008, 12:17 pm
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Yes, exactly! Because metal is a good thermal conductor, unlike marble and wood!Nick wrote:This is directly comparable seats in Turkish baths (marble) and Swedish saunas (wooden). Thank goodness the seats aren't metal!
Emma
Re: International Year Of The Potato
Wow! I obviously put my fingers into gear and forgot about my brain! What you say makes sense, so I withdraw wot I said! With the filing cabinet, I think I'm right [---][/---] it's the conductivity that's important. When you touch it with your warm hand, the heat is conducted away quickly by the metal as the whole filing cabinet attempts to increase its temperature. Because of its size, the heat from your hand has very little effect, so it continues to drain heat away and your nerve endings detect this lower temperature. With something like wood, the heat is not conducted away to any where near the same extent, and all you do is increase the temperature locally [---][/---] this local temperature is very similar to your hand so your nerve endings don't record much of a difference. (All that and not one equation in sight!)
There was an interesting programme on the other night about various scientists, including Ludwig Boltzmann [---][/---] he discovered a lot of what we know about thermodynamics.
I also must admit that I hadn't thought about the kitchen warming up [---][/---] I assumed thermal equilibrium and I suspect it would be less of an effect now as it might have been BCH (before central heating).
There was an interesting programme on the other night about various scientists, including Ludwig Boltzmann [---][/---] he discovered a lot of what we know about thermodynamics.
I also must admit that I hadn't thought about the kitchen warming up [---][/---] I assumed thermal equilibrium and I suspect it would be less of an effect now as it might have been BCH (before central heating).
Alan Henness
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?
There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:
1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?