History through the eyes of the potato - Leo Bear-McGuinness
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/history-through-the-eyes-of-the-potato-leo-bear-mcguinness Baked or fried, boiled or roasted, as chips or fries; ...
========== Baked or fried, boiled or roasted, as chips or fries. At some point in your life,
you've probably eaten a potato. Delicious, for sure, but the fact is potatoes have played a
much more significant role in our history than just that of the dietary staple
we have come to know and love today. Without the potato, our modern civilization
might not exist at all. 8,000 years ago in South America,
high atop the Andes, ancient Peruvians were the first
to cultivate the potato. Containing high levels of proteins
and carbohydrates, as well as essential fats, vitamins
and minerals, potatoes were the perfect food source
to fuel a large Incan working class as they built and farmed
their terraced fields, mined the Rocky Mountains, and created the sophisticated civilization
of the great Incan E...