The potato produces more food on less land faster than any other major food crop and, as a result, potato crops are an excellent alternative for farmers who need to feed growing populations with limited areas of crop land. One hectare of potatoes can yield a crop with a food value of more than four hectares of grain.
Why was the potato so important to history?
Highly nutritious potatoes also helped mitigate the effects of such diseases as scurvy, tuberculosis, measles and dysentery. The higher birth rates and lower mortality rates potatoes encouraged led to a tremendous population explosion wherever the potato traveled, particularly in Europe, the US and the British Empire.
Why was the potato important in Europe?
Throughout Europe, the most important new food in the 19th century was the potato, which had three major advantages over other foods for the consumer: its lower rate of spoilage, its bulk (which easily satisfied hunger) and its cheapness.
Why were potatoes important in the Columbian Exchange?
The spud that could: potatoes and populations Why was the Columbian Exchange so important? Let's start with the potato. Native to Peru, the potato provided Western and Northern Europe with a new source of calories, feeding European people and the armies that extended European empires into Africa and Asia.
What was the significance of the potato to the Irish?
Why were potatoes so important to Ireland? The potato plant was hardy, nutritious, calorie-dense, and easy to grow in Irish soil. By the time of the famine, nearly half of Ireland's population relied almost exclusively on potatoes for their diet, and the other half ate potatoes frequently.
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