The Little Spud that Could

The once lowly potato plant has become an “icon of globalization,” according to a renowned expert on the economics of food industry speaking to a journalism class at Hometown University today.
Ezra Kuttner, who works in the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University, spoke of the virtues of the tasty spud in a speech aptly titled, “In praise of the humble but world-changing potato plant.”
According to Kuttner, there are three important trends that potatoes have spurred: economic development, free trade, and globalization. From their origin in the mountains of Peru, to underpinning the England’s industrial revolution, the influence of the potato is ancient.
Since 2008 has been dubbed “the year of the potato,” there seems to be no better time to celebrate the impact of the world’s fourth largest food crop. Kuttner also applauded a recent book by John Reader entitled “Propitious Esculent: The Potato in World History,” which speaks of the ascension of the plant.
“Mashed, fried, boiled, and roast,” Kuttner proclaimed, “a humble tuber changed the world.”