Happy Holidays from all of us at Green Thumb Farms! We hope that the holiday season is filled with warmth and cheer, don’t forget the potatoes and beans! If you still haven’t stopped in and picked yours up be sure to do so before Friday as we will be closed for the Christmas holiday. For those of you who do not live within driving distance look for our name on the back of the bags in your local grocery store. Enjoy!
I was searching for a few anecdotes about holiday traditions that involve potatoes and I stumbled upon these interesting facts:
- Potatoes are not mentioned in the Bible.
- We know that American Indians helped the settlers through their first winters in the New World with information about native foods such as squash, corn and beans. But did you know that later settlers returned the favor by introducing the potato to the Indians when Irish settlers successfully grew them in New Hampshire in 1719? (The potato had gotten to Ireland via the explorer Pizarro who brought them back to Europe from South America).
- A well known painting by Vincent Van Gogh is entitled The Potato Eaters.
- Idaho produces more potatoes than any other state, followed by Maine, California, Washington, New York, North Dakota, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin.
- The potato chip was invented in 1853 by an American Indian chef in a restaurant in Saratoga, N.Y.
- Potato chips were invented by mistake. The year was 1853, and Railroad Magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was dining at a fashionable resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. He sent his fried potatoes back to the kitchen complaining they were too thick. To spite his haughty guest, Chef George Crum sliced some potatoes paper thin, fried them in hot oil, and salted them. To everyone’s surprise, Vanderbilt loved his “Saratoga Crunch Chips”, and potato chips have been popular ever since.
- It reputedly took seven transatlantic crossings before the potato gained acceptance in America. In fact, the potato did not really become popular until discovered by Benjamin Franklin. While ambassador to France, he attended a banquet hosted by Parmentier at which the potato was served 20 different ways. Franklin returned to America singing the praises of the potato as the ultimate vegetable. Americans followed the lead of trendsetting Franklin, and soon the potato was being cultivated in the colonies and in remote regions of the western frontier.
- French fries were introduced to Americans when President Thomas Jefferson served them at the White House.
- February is traditionally designated as “Potato Lover’s Month?”
- Ore-Ida began making “Tator Tots” in 1954.
- The average American eats 132.7 pounds of potatoes a year, or over 365 potatoes per person per year – that’s an average of more than one potato a day.
- The potato is the second most consumed food in the United States – trailing only after milk products.
- Potatoes are one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. One medium sized potato has fewer calories than a grapefruit, more potassium than a banana, and more usable iron than any other vegetable. Potatoes are also high in fiber, and loaded with complex carbohydrates. And best of all, potatoes are fat-free.
