2 minute read
Potatoes Facts
from KidZine 40
by KidZine
The potato is a starchy vegetable and the world’s fourth largest food crop after maize, wheat and rice.
The word potato comes from the Spanish word ‘patata’. China is the top potato producing country, followed by India.
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It is a staple food in many parts of the world and an important part of the world’s diet.
Potatoes are relatively easy to grow although do not store particularly well after purchase.
Potatoes are full of carbohydrates but also contain a variety of vitamins and minerals. There are thousands of different potato varieties. The most popular include Russet, Desiree and Fingerling.
They are particularly popular for chips/ French fries but frying makes them unhealthy. On the other hand, one 8 ounce baked or boiled potato has only 100 calories.
They are a root crop, which means the vegetable grows under the soil. The green tops of a potato plant are poisonous and toxic.
There are many different ways to cook and serve potatoes. They can be boiled, baked, mashed, roasted or fried.
Potatoes are also used to make crisps – one of the most common snack foods in the world. The slang term for a potato is ‘spud’.
In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space!
The largest potato ever grown weighed over 8 pounds.
The average American eats about 124 pounds of potatoes every year. Germans eat twice as much!
A potato is actually 80% water and 20% solids.
Potatoes were the main crop in Ireland for many years. Adverse weather conditions resulted in the ‘Great Potato Famine’ in the 1840s and 1850s. Almost a million people died from starvation during this time.
It is Inca tradition to place raw slices of potato on broken bones to help healing. A folk remedy suggests carrying a potato in your pocket to cure toothache!
QUESTIONS
1. What does root crop mean? 2. Which country produces the most potatoes? 3. Where did the Great Potato Famine occur? 4. A potato is 80% water – true or false? 5. Where does the word potato come from? 6. What is the slang word for potato? 7. Carrying a potato in your pocket is believed to help what? 8. How heavy was the biggest ever potato? 9. Potatoes are the world’s largest crop after which 3 crops? 10. What happened in 1995?
The potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space Maize, wheat and rice, 10. 8 pounds, 9. 8.
Toothache, Spud, 7. The Spanish word ‘patata, 6. True, 5. Ireland, 4. China, 3. 2.The vegetable grows under the soil, 1. :ANSWERS
