Friday, April 4, 2008

U.N. International Year of the Potato


I heard something interesting on the radio on the way into work today. 2008 is the U.N. International Year of the Potato. Working for the Diversity Council, I have been aware of other UN initiatives such as International Year of the Woman, Year of Struggle Against Racism etc. So, I have been blissful unaware of the other important U.N. International years.

  • 2002 - International Year of Mountains
  • 2003 - International Year of Freshwater
  • 2004 - International Year of Rice
  • 2005 - International Year for Sport and Physical Education
  • 2009 International Year of the Nudibranch


  • U.N. International Year of the Potato. Why not? The potato has half the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, has no fat or cholesterol, has less calories and greater satiety than other foods, and takes less water than rice and wheat to grow. There are more than 2000 varieties of potato grown in South America that can grow in almost any conditions (while the U.S. and Europe settles for about 15 varieties that grow in pretty narrow conditions). So I supposed taking all that in to work,U.N. International Year of the Potato could have a big influence on hunger and poverty.

    Isn't public radio great?

    4 comments:

    Elwood said...

    Weird, 'cause I thought it was the year of the po-tah-to.

    Aqua Chiffon said...

    Aaaand, now I'm hungry.

    cj_atc said...

    As Amy and Steph learned while we were in Germany...there is no wrong way to cook a potato.

    I think they may have known this prior to the trip, but the hypothesis was proven during.

    Kristin said...

    You say potato, I say (to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance)

    po ta to po ta to po ta to po
    ta to po ta to po ta to po ta
    to po ta to po ta to po ta to
    po ta to po ta to po ta to

    Cheryl Wheeler, Sylvia Hotel (The po ta to song)