Plant histories
The history behind a number of crop plants.
Looking at where they originated, their domestication, the introduction of these crops to Europe, how European attitudes to them changed over the centuries and ultimately how our changing demands have influenced the plants themselves.
Introduction
Four hundred years ago the potato was unheard of in Europe and most of the rest of the world. It is now the fourth biggest crop worldwide; only wheat, maize and rice are produced in greater amounts.
Europe itself consumes over 7 million tonnes of potato a year. Baked, boiled, fried, chipped, roasted, mashed, cooked in stews, soups, pasta, pies and pancakes, we probably use the potato in more ways than any other vegetable.
The potato is used in hundreds of ways all over the world but perhaps the most famous is the humble chip. The invention of the potato chip is claimed by both the Belgians and the French.
Photographer: L. Ulm. Copyright: Rights Reserved.
Find out, in this race through the history of the potato, where the European potato came from, what its relatives look like and how it has changed in the last four centuries.
