French Fries

Potatoes became a staple in the diet of many as they were discovered around the world. They are still an important part of the diet of many today. ("International year of," 2008)

The conquistadors eventually used potatoes as rations on their ships and took it back to Spain (Chapman, n.d.). From there, the potato spread to other countries. Unfortunately, the potato was “regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear.” (Chapman, n.d.) Only animals were fed the potatoes at first but as time went on, the aristocracy of Europe began to encourage the lower classes to begin cultivating potatoes. Potatoes, however, did not become a staple until roughly 1795 and the food shortages that came during the time of the Revolutionary Wars in England. (Chapman, n.d.)

The United States of America has long been considered a “big nation”, whether is has the biggest cities, houses, and on a negative note, biggest people. In 2003, Morgan Spurlock, a healthy-bodied film director, set on a quest to show America the detrimental effects of the fast food industry and raise awareness on the controversial issue. He produced the documentary “Supersize Me”, where McDonald’s meals were consumed for every meal of the day for thirty days. His film was released to movie theatres so that people could understand the devastating effects of McDonald’s on his body in a very short time span. At the end of his experiment, Morgan gained twenty-five pounds, developed a thirteen percent

Before 1500, potatoes were not become outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was so subject to the potato that the proximate reason for the Incomparable Starvation was a potato malady. Potatoes in the long run turned into an imperative staple of the eating regimen in quite a bit of Europe. Numerous European rulers, including Frederick the Incomparable of Prussia and Catherine the Incomparable of Russia, supported the development of the potato. Maize and cassava, acquainted with the Portuguese from South America in the sixteenth century, have supplanted sorghum and millet as Africa's most essential sustenance crops. sixteenth century Spanish colonizers acquainted new staple yields with Asia from the Americas, including maize and sweet potatoes, and along these lines added to populace development in Asia. Tomatoes, which came to Europe from the New World by means of Spain, were at first prized in Italy basically for their decorative esteem . From the nineteenth century tomato sauces wound up run of the mill of Neapolitan food and, eventually, Italian cooking when all is said in done. Espresso from Africa and the Center East and sugarcane from the Spanish West Independents turned into the fundamental fare product harvests of broad Latin American manors. Acquainted with India by the Portuguese, bean stew and potatoes from South America have turned into a basic piece of Indian

Potatoes were prime to the Americas and even Europe (when they were shipped back) as they were resistant to cold and could grow in very thin soil. In Europe, it supported the sailors, and even the lower class, only adding to its value. It had also saved Ireland from extinction as it was their only choice to avoid starvation (and began a huge Irish stereotype, among

Introduced to Europe in the mid 1500s, potatoes were able to strongly impact European lives. They originally grew in Peru but spread throughout South America and later in Europe. Potatoes were able to thrive in Ireland, Scandinavia, Germany, and Poland. Potatoes were able to feed many people and improve food supply. The potato was able to supply a steady amount of calories and nutrients which was able to provide a better life for people of the Old World. Potatoes quickly spread throughout Europe and became an important crop. Today people still use the potato for food and other uses such as making stamps and soothing headaches. When growing potatoes today, many diseases can occur. Some include early and late blight, potato scab, and bacterial ring rot.

In the summer of 1845 a potato disease struck Ireland. A fungus Photophthora Infestans turned the potato harvest into decaying blackish masses of rottenness, unfit for human or animal consumption. Potato diseases had

“John Richard Simplot, America’s great potato baron, whose seemingly inexhaustible energy and willingness to take risks built an empire based on french fries”

First, Michael Pollan explains how corn is been used really “sprouted up” in the year 1947 after

Potatoes began prospering with the Incan people in the Andes in the form of polyculture. The environment surrounding the Andes was harsh and unforgiving and where one type of potato would thrive, another would perish. The Incan people then changed their needs in order to satisfy the potato and began growing different types of each in different areas of the mountains. This method was extremely successful and resulted in massive genetic diversity for the potato. On the other hand, once potatoes were transported to Ireland, they underwent a change subject to human desires where only one type of potato was grown excessively, otherwise known as monoculture. The Irish had discovered that a single type of potato prospered in their soil and provided substantial nutritional support for the masses, resulting in the cultivation of a single genetic strand. The consequences of this endeavor would come later with the blight, but in this case, the potato had succumbed to the needs of humans. Lastly and more presently in the United States, potatoes have altogether lost their say in evolution by being grown only based on their requirement to feed the many. Certain strains of potatoes have become prevalent due to their need for food purposes, such as “perfect” French fries provided for restaurant chains. Besides

Farming was the way of life for the Indians. Indians had farmed almost all of their food products, with the exception of meats. The farming of corn, wheat, and barley were most intriguing to the Europeans. The Europeans took these new crops back to the Old World where they introduced them to the Kings. Once, the value of these crops was discovered Kings from all over the Old World funded more and more trips back to the New World. According to A. Brinkley (pg. 15), such foods as squash, pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes all found their way into European diets. With all their intriguing gadgets, the white men brought deadly diseases to the Native Americans.

The potato also reminds him of his mother’s stories, and the different in cultures between America and Peru. “Are potatoes harvested at night in the moonlight? He was surprised how little he knew about something that came from his own country. As he thought about it, he believed harvest wasn’t even the correct term. Gathering? Digging? What do you call this harvest from under the earth?” (Pg 313, Ortega) The father is trying to remember how potatoes are harvested, and it surprised him that how little he actually knew about them. It shows that the lost of his old culture when he lives in Peru and he is a bite guilty and astonish that he doesn’t know this simply and base facts about his culture. “Boiled, baked, fried, or stewed: the ways of cooking potatoes were a long story in themselves. He remembered what his mother had told him as a child: at harvest time, the largest potatoes would be roasted for everybody, and, in the fire, they would open up just like flowers. The potatoes were probably the one of the lost varieties, the kind that turned into flowers in the flames.” (Pg 313, Ortega)The culture of Peru is reflected through the symbol potato. The father think about the time when he was a child and his mother told him stories about his culture and how different ways the potatoes were cooked in the past. So when the father cooks the potato it reminds him of the culture of peru and all the different ways that people there cooks

The history of corn can be dated back to the beginning of time, but the use and value of corn had been unnoticed until it was introduce by the Native Americans. Where corn had seemed to be a big part of their everyday life from, being in myths, legends, and for a huge portion of their diet corn was an essential component. "when the Europeans had touched base to the New World during the late fifteenth century, the Native Americans had introduced corn what they had called maize to the Europeans .This crop was then later on grown and adapted from Canada to southern South America very quickly, which then began to form the new basis of the New World civilization" (Leventin & McManhon, 2012). The way corn has been changing and revolutionizing throughout time has been both fascinating and drastic. Rather than conventional corn being grown, it is genetically modified corn that have been dominating today 's crop industry and farming but the question remains as to how the various types of GMO corn has influenced the way it is grown and used and what its ramification are.

The potato is a remarkable food that humans can survive on for many years. Disease attacked the crop in 1845 and virtually destroyed it, producing unprecedented starvation and a migration to Liverpool. Farmers always focus on producing “the best” plant for maximum yields. These offspring are of a single parental type and are genetically uniform. However, if a virus successfully attacks the plants, it destroys everyone. On the flip side, in natural populations, genetic variation insures that some will be protected against disease. These predictions can explain why the Irish lost their entire crop in 1845 and why the Maya civilization’s corn crop was wiped out over night. In attempt to avoid this problem, breeders try to beff up the genetic

New farming methods came to use during late 16th century. Farmers in many parts of Europe, including Ireland, France, started to raise potatoes. A plant from the “New World”, that for a long tome was seen with a big suspiciousness. A higher rate of potato