Why Were Europeans Hesitant To Eat Potatoes When They Were First Introduced?

In France, between 1748 and 1772, the potato was illegal since the French believed potatoes spread disease, especially leprosy. People preferred to grow potatoes for flowers and for animal food.

Why were Europeans scared of potatoes?

Throughout Europe, potatoes were regarded with suspicion, distaste and fear. Generally considered to be unfit for human consumption, they were used only as animal fodder and sustenance for the starving. In northern Europe, potatoes were primarily grown in botanical gardens as an exotic novelty.

What did Europeans think of potatoes?

Europeans in South America were aware of the potato by the mid-16th century, but refused to eat the plant. For the Spaniards the potato was regarded as a food for the natives: the Spanish conquerors speak most favourably of the potato but they recommend it especially for the natives who have to do the heaviest jobs.

When were potatoes first eaten in Europe?

Originating from the highlands of the Andes, South America, potatoes were introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century. They were initially popular in Spain because they provided cheap sustenance for the poor.

Why were potatoes not popular in the 17th century?

But European attitudes toward potatoes shifted during the 1700s as a result of two things: war and famine. Disruptions to the food supply meant that some people had no choice but to eat potatoes, and they soon discovered that their fears about them were unfounded.

Why were potatoes banned in France?

Potatoes are believed to have been banned in France from 1748 to 1772. The French Parliament reportedly forbade potato cultivation as it was considered to be poisonous, and it was also claimed that potatoes caused leprosy.

Who was the first person to eat a potato?

The Inca Indians in Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes around 8,000 BC to 5,000 B.C. In 1536, Spanish Conquistadors in Peru discovered the flavors of the potato and transported them to Europe.

When were potatoes considered poisonous?

1952: According to the British Medical Journal, solanine poisoning is most common during times of food shortage. In the face of starvation, there have been accounts of large groups eating older potatoes with a higher concentration of the toxin.

How did potatoes affect the Old World?

They were part of the Columbian Exchange as well as being disseminated by many other large trade routes. Potatoes became widespread and then turned into a necessity for the people in Europe to survive. Potatoes created a more nutritional diet as well as creating jobs and population booms everywhere the plant was grown.

How did the potato change Europe?

More than that, as the historian William H. McNeill has argued, the potato led to empire: “By feeding rapidly growing populations, [it] permitted a handful of European nations to assert dominion over most of the world between 1750 and 1950.” The potato, in other words, fueled the rise of the West.

Who introduced potatoes to England?

English explorer Sir Francis Drake discovered potatoes during his first, and the world’s second-ever, circumnavigation of the world in the late 16^th century in Latin America. He brought them back to England and they have been a mainstay in British diets ever since.

How potatoes became the food for the poor?

They planted the tubers in trenches, gradually heaping on extra soil as they grew, to produce a high yield from small plots of land. When potatoes arrived in Europe, they quickly became the food of the poor.

Did the French hate potatoes?

While the potato was becoming a part of European cooking ever since the Spaniards brought them to the continent in the mid-1500s, the French were not so hot on the potato. They refused to accept the vegetable, referring to it as “hog feed” and believing that these tubers caused leprosy.

What did Europe eat before potatoes?

Grains, either as bread or porridge, were the other mainstay of the pre-potato Irish diet, and the most common was the humble oat, usually made into oatcakes and griddled (ovens hadn’t really taken off yet).

How did potatoes impact labor practices from 1450 to 1750?

How did the sweet potato impact labor practices from 1450-1750? Potato labor stimulated growth of African Slave Trade. Potatoes were made through slave/coerced labor.

How long were potatoes banned in France?

It is hard today to think of potatoes as anything other than a staple food but they were illegal in France between 1748 and 1772. Potatoes were originally introduced into Europe by Spaniards, who brought them back from the Inca Empire in South America.

When did France declare potatoes edible?

Due largely to Parmentier’s efforts, the Paris Faculty of Medicine declared potatoes edible in 1772.

Do the French eat potatoes?

It’s hard to imagine French cuisine without potatoes- they are such an inherent part of French food today that I never imagined this staple was an introduced product and has only been part of the French diet since Louis XVI in the 17th Century.

Is potato man made?

Potatoes were domesticated there approximately 7,000–10,000 years ago, from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex. In the Andes region of South America, where the species is indigenous, some close relatives of the potato are cultivated.

What did Irish eat before potatoes?

Until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century, grains such as oats, wheat and barley, cooked either as porridge or bread, formed the staple of the Irish diet.

Are potato skins poisonous?

Glycoalkaloids occur naturally in potatoes and are toxic to humans at high levels. Glycoalkaloids are concentrated in the peel and prolonged exposure of tubers to light will stimulate the formation of glycoalkaloids near the surface of the potato tuber.