Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato
“The potato’s dual status as a tool of the modern state and as an emblem of the historical agency of ordinary people”
Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato by Rebecca Earle presents an overview of the history of the potato. But it does far more than that. Earle's analysis of the role politicians and economists play in directing our dietary choices applies today and to all our food options, not just the potato. It’s a complicated topic. On the one hand, we don’t like government telling us what to eat. There was outrage when the mayor of New York tried to ban the sale of extra-large soft drinks. On the other hand, we do want government to make sure our food is safe to eat (checking for and recalling products contaminated by listeria, for example). The interplay between politics, economics, and diet becomes even more complicated when examined from a historical perspective.
“Potatoes . . . are something like Spanish truffles, aside from being a bit bigger and not as tasty.” Vicente de Valverde, 1539
Potatoes have not always been a food staple, ever-present in homes around the world. Up until the sixteenth century, only a small population living along the Andes grew and ate potatoes. This would change once European explorers returned from their South American travels. Credit has historically been given to governments and scientists for promoting potatoes to reluctant peasants who were unwilling to try something new, particularly as potatoes belong to the same plant family as deadly nightshade and poisonous henbane. But Earle’s research demonstrates little historical basis for these claims. In fact, potatoes spread relatively quickly to all parts of Europe, including small, remote communities. Herbals, health manuals, and cookbooks all indicate that local people were growing and eating potatoes and were in fact responsible for adapting the potato to the local climate, which was significantly different from that of the Andes, from a very early date. “As one 1651 cookbook from the Saxon city of Braunschweig noted, ‘earth-artichokes or roots . . . have become so common that practically every farmer grows them in his garden’.”
It’s not surprising that peasant farmers and labourers rapidly adopted the potato. They were high in protein, (“while a hectare of land sown with wheat may yield enough protein to feed seven people over the course of a year, a hectare of potatoes will nourish seventeen”), could be planted on a small scale in kitchen gardens, and didn’t need to be harvested at a precise moment. As a result, peasants could evade state taxes and tithing a share of the produce to the local priest. Root crops were also valuable in wartime as invading armies could not see, and therefore steal, the crop.
“What a treasure is a milch cow and a potatoe garden, to a poor man with a large family!”
By the 18th century, politicians, priests, and physicans were agreed that potatoes would end poverty and create a healthy population who were fit to serve their country and promote wealth and national sovereignty as healthy workers and strong soldiers. “The Enlightenment’s fascination with the potato reflects the advent not of a new foodstuff or new levels of hunger, but rather of new ideas about the relationship between the health and vigour of the population, and the wealth and power of the state.” Orphanages and poorhouses, along with the army and navy, were encouraged to provide plenty of top-quality food. Working class people should be encouraged to “live ‘cheaper and better’ by making superior choices about what they ate.” Too much meat, white bread, and beer resulted in ill health. Whole grains and root vegetables, particularly potatoes, were not only cheaper but much healthier and would lead to greater happiness. Potato advocates recommended potato bread (6 lbs of potatoes for every 3 of wheat) and soup, although this frugal fare was not always well received (“We will not be fed on meal, and chopped potatoes, like hogs!”).
“The Andean potato had become evidence of European superiority.”
From Europe, potato-promotion spread around the world. European colonies were encouraged to grow and eat European foodstuffs, which were judged far superior to local products. Imperialism was thus portrayed as an altruistic gesture: “Providence had entrusted Britain with the task of improving Indian agriculture and thereby spreading ‘comfort and happiness’ among the Indian population.” Food continues to play an important role in international relations in order to foster social stability and encourage a transition from subsistence farming to commercial production.
“A scandalous and potentially destabilising alternative to the economic and political forms that the reproduction of capital requires”
Potatoes were a valuable food source so long as the majority of the population made their living off the land and could grow their own potatoes. But once industrialisation set in, governments and economists changed their tune. Potatoes were now viewed as the root of “slovenliness, filth, misery, and slavery” that would “bring English labourers down to the state of the Irish, whose mode of living, as to food, is but one remove from that of the pig, and of the ill-fed pig too.” Self-reliant farmers and landowners could not be relied on to provide an industrial workforce; potatoes were out of favour.
“Eat potatoes, save the wheat, drive the Kaiser to defeat.”
Potatoes regained their value as a nutritious food staple during wartime. With wheat being shipped overseas to feed soldiers during World War I, Americans were encouraged to eat potatoes. The situation was the same in Europe. “In Germany, the shortage of potatoes, bread, butter and meat reduced public support for the war, and ultimately helped bring down the government, which collapsed in November 1918.”
There was a similar reliance and advocacy surrounding potatoes during World War II. Russians were encouraged to plant potatoes and factories provided workers with allotments. Cookbooks were published in Great Britain encouraging the public to eat more potatoes. Americans were more reluctant to accept the government dictating what they should eat. The Committee on Food Habits affirmed that “choice in food is one sign of being an adult in America.” When rationing was expanded in 1943, it “was accompanied by a media blitz aimed at convincing housewives that the measure provided an opportunity to demonstrate patriotism, rather than constituting a government intrusion into private life.”
“Let me be your sweetie”
The archival recipes and illustrations in Feeding the People are an enjoyable addition to the text. They range from a 17-century drawing of an Andean potato harvest to Potato Pete, a recipe book hero encouraging British housewives to eat more potatoes during World War II (“Let me be your sweetie, he implored housewives on the page offering recipes for puddings.”). Some of the recipes, including cheap potato soup for soldiers and workhouse residents, are pretty dire. Others are more intriguing. There’s Persian Rice with a Potato Crust, an untraditional version of a classic Iranian dish, and Sichuan Stir-Fried Potato Slivers (Did you know that more potatoes are grown and eaten in China than anywhere else in the world?).
I was sent a free copy of Feeding the People by the publisher, Cambridge University Press. Send me an email if you are interested in reading it and I’ll be happy to pass it along.
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