It can perhaps be used for “everything”, but it is hard to be a potato in 2022. Once upon a time it was exotic and desirable, many wanted a boat made of the potato. Now it needs the help of frying pans and truffle oil. The potato cannot get rid of the stigma as traditional, boring, unhealthy. The industry pays the influencers to cook lasagna or Thai pot with – yes, you guessed it – potato. The potato appears in Skam, Peppa Pig, even as an asteroid in Star Wars. It has its own holiday (the autumn holiday was called the potato holiday before), its own professional forum, its own national potato day. All this notwithstanding: With each passing year, we eat a few kilos of potatoes less than the year before. Is it that dangerous, then? Yes, many think. There are three reasons for that. A potato in need Norway’s degree of self-sufficiency in potatoes is creeping down little by little. But if the world shuts down tomorrow, the potato should become your best friend. That’s because you can grow it yourself, it thrives from north to south, and it can withstand a lot. In addition, it can be stored for a long time. The potato’s path to Norwegian plates has been quite a long one: When the potato took root in Norwegian soil more than 250 years ago, – – some thought it was diabolical. Because it grew underground, it could be dangerous. But the potato was soon to save Norwegians from starvation. The king ordered the churches to have their own potato priest, who was to inform both about Christianity and agriculture. The potato thus saved lives once upon a time. Not all vegetables can boast the same. In the 1950s, every individual Norwegian ate almost four times more potatoes than we do today, according to SSB: But ever since the war, things have been going down for the poor root vegetable. In 2021, the consumption of potatoes was just over 21 kilograms per person, according to the Directorate of Health. The industry naturally wants us to eat more. That’s why they asked over 2,000 Norwegians about their relationship with potatoes. The result? People love the potato, but it lags behind. It is simply not modern enough. The potato is better liked and eaten more often by the elderly. People in the countryside are more fond of potatoes than people in the city. People prefer to eat potatoes on Sundays. The potato is considered traditional and associated with home cooking. Some people think that the potato is unhealthy. The latter in particular is a myth, several researchers believe. A full potato “I’m not very fond of potatoes. And then it’s quite unhealthy,” says the character Vilde in the second season of the series Skam. “Your body needs potatoes,” Noora quickly counters. It is full of things that are good for you: vitamin C, vitamin B, potassium, fiber and important minerals. Professor Birger Svihus agrees. – I have little to say about the potato. He researches and teaches nutrition at the Norwegian University of the Environment and Life Sciences. Svihus does not think it is a coincidence that the consumption of potatoes in Norway has decreased at the same time as the obesity problem has increased. In the competition for a place on the dinner plate, the potato is now racing (call it a potato race if you like) with both rice and pasta, in addition to pizza base and hamburger buns. He explains that a boiled potato is more filling and has fewer calories per 100 grams. So: If you eat baked goods, rice or pasta, you often get more calories before you’re full than with potatoes. In addition, the potato has been given a new role. It has gone from being the most important side dish at dinner to becoming a snack, explains the professor. The young would rather have it raised and deep-fried. But there is one thing the potato can boast of that other side dishes cannot: the planet will be happy if we eat more potatoes. A climate tuber If you choose to give the potato a place on your plate, you can eat dinner with a good climate conscience. The potato requires less soil, nutrition and water than rice and pasta. You simply get more food for the space and effort (ie the amount of fertilizer and water) you have spent growing it. – But it doesn’t fit as well into the menu anymore, says Eldrid Lein Molteberg. She makes a living from researching potatoes at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy in Østre Toten municipality, which some might call Norway’s potato capital. And what adorns their municipal coat of arms? The potato plant, of course. Molteberg is afraid the boiled potato is too boring. – The potato is more exciting than that and can still be used for most things, she says. The researcher is nevertheless optimistic about the potato’s future. – People would like to eat environmentally friendly. It is about time, she says. In addition, short-travel food is good for our planet. The potatoes that are not eaten can be used for alcohol, animal feed or potato flour. That is precisely why Molteberg believes that the potato is facing a boost. Maybe it won’t be as hard to be a potato in 2023. PS: About two kilos of potatoes were damaged in the production of this case. Most were cooked and eaten afterwards.
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