According to one of my favorite websites of all time (www.brownielocks.com/month2.html) and Wikipedia, 2008 has been declared by the UN as the International Year of the Potato "in order to increase awareness of the importance of the potato as a food in developing nations.” I thought that was pretty cool. So, here are some thoughts on: THE POTATO- The most versatile of vegetables... Potatoes come in a multitude of forms: mashed, baked, twice-baked, boiled, in pancake form, in dessert form (spudnuts anyone?), as chips, as fries... etc. I bet you've eaten them in most if not all of their available forms, but did you know...
* On average, people eat about 73 lbs. of potatoes a year.
* The potato originated in South America and wasn't introduced in Europe until 1536.
* Unlike other foods, the potato can be cooked in a microwave w/out losing any of its nutritional value.
* Although poisoning from potatoes is very rare, wild potatoes contain a concentration of glycoalkaloid that can produce toxic effects in humans.
I'm impressed.
