Loving potatoes isn’t hard, especially since it’s the Year of the Potato!

February 2008

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared 2008 to be the International Year of the Potato – and for good reason.

As the deadline approaches for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to fight poverty, the potato is playing a major 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.

The potato crop produces nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The potato is the world’s fourth most important food crop, feeding people all over the world. However, it is under threat. Genetic modification, monocropping, and terminator technologies endanger the potato biodiversity that communities in around the world depend on. These are a few of the things you can do to help.

• Join the Ban Terminator Campaign! The multinational corporation Syngenta has applied for a Canadian patent on Terminator potatoes which are designed to be sterile. Many groups, including USC Canada, the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network and the Indigenous Coalition Against Biopiracy in the Andes, are working to make sure Terminator potatoes never become reality. Stay involved in the fight to Ban Terminator!
  
  

  Did you know? The potato comes from the Andes, in South America, where it has been consumed for about 8,000 years. It was first taken to Europe in the 16th century by Spanish adventurers interested in its medicinal properties. There are seven recognized potato species and more than 5,000 potato varieties still growing in the Andes. Potatoes play a critical role in the local farming economy there as well as in the cultural life of the Quechua and Aymara communities who grow them. These farmers still take advantage of its medicinal qualities. The juice of their local varieties helps to control nasty coughs, for example. The nutritional value of these superior indigenous varieties is also impressive. Unlike the fat, white, starch-filled varieties used to make French fries, the small, colourful, and pockmarked types in the Andes are full of protein, vitamin C, and important antioxidants. And they taste a lot better!

• Donate to USC Canada’s efforts to support rural livelihoods, agricultural biodiversity, and efforts to safeguard the potato.In addition to our ongoing support to communities in Nepal through our Seeds of Survival program, which conserve and use potato biodiversity, we’ve begun work with two Bolivian NGOs dedicated to producing, conserving, and marketing native seeds and crops. Kawsay (a Quechua word meaning ‘life’) works to revitalize the cultural identity of indigenous peoples in the Andean region, and is focused on the hundreds of native potato varieties. PRODII (Interdisciplinary Integrated Development Program) is rebuilding local biodiversity through the production and sale of oca – another tasty local tuber.
• Learn More: Check out the official International Year of the Potato website for the UN declaration and more information, or watch the FAO video Potatoes on the Front Line Against Poverty.
• Teach your Kids: There are lots of educational resources for teachers and parents available on the web, like this site that features fun games for kids.

To read more about what you can do, take a look at the potato watch website developed by our friends at the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.