Alas, the Year of the Potato is Over

The Tasty Tuber Gives Over the Reins

The Year of the Potato has come to an end. Everyone, shed a collective tear. I know, I know, you've been waiting with baited breath ever since I first reported on this in January 2008. So here we go....

No, don't cry because the mighty tuber, with its 8,000 year history of feeding the masses, has given over the year 2009 to... I haven't found out yet... but I'm looking, trust me. I'm betting it is the Year of Amaranth or some such. (I'll write amaranth at a later date, it really IS a pretty cool grain).

But the United Nations, like any governmental body of its size, complexity, and spending habits has produced a report on the massively, wildly, successful campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of the spud as the Food of the Future. Suitable for putting on any smart coffee table to entertain your guests.

Hmm... Food of the Future. But they start the 148 page report (I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!) by telling us that it has been a staple for 8,000 YEARS in the Andes, and in Europe since the 18^th Century, following a wildfire spread of the crop (okay, wildfire by 17^th Century standards, what with the best means of transportation being wind-driven boats, okay?) once brought there by the Spanish.

And it is grown on 6 continents. Six... and nothing grows on the seventh one except penguins. And they eat fish, so... no need for spuds there.

Any way, there were festivals. There were cooking events. There were publicly funded lectures, conferences, parties, and nights of wild debauchery. (All right, I made up the debauchery part.) (Maybe.)

It took the skills and talents of 55 people from around the globe working diligently to tell us about the miraculous tater (I'm not making that up, either - 55 people). I mean, couldn't they have done the same thing with about a dozen people, a television studio, and a bunch of leprechauns?

The HYPERBOLE in this tome is nothing short of miraculous! You could STRANGLE someone like Tom Wolfe with this thing. Take this one "The International Year of

the Potato has raised awareness of the potato's fundamental importance as a staple food of humanity."