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target="_blank">from The Tucson Citizen

Versatile tuber considered pivotal in hunger, poverty issues
TOM STAUFFER

As international observances go, 2008 is a big year.

While the United Nations declared 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit, 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification and 2007 as the Year of the Dolphin, 2008 hit a triple. It's the International Year of Languages, the International Year of Sanitation - and the International Year of the Potato.

The importance of languages is pretty self-explanatory, in any language. As for sanitation, it's pretty important, too, but not nearly as appetizing a topic as potatoes.

While it may sound trivial and even goofy to be giving the potato so much attention, it's well deserved.

With the world's population expected to grow by more than 100 million people a year and 95 percent of that increase expected to occur in developing countries, the United Nations sees the potato as pivotal in highlighting several important global issues, namely hunger and poverty.

The potato is well-suited for addressing those concerns in developing countries, where arable land is limited and labor is abundant. That's because the potato produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land and in harsher climates than any other major crop, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. High in carbohydrates and protein, potatoes are also an excellent source of vitamin C and potassium.

Because the potato can more efficiently feed more hungry people with fewer resources than any other major crop, the United Nations sees it as an important part of its Millennium Development Goals: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing global partnerships for development.

People have begun to embrace different varieties of potatoes and making interesting enhancements to potatoes, most notably the age-old mashed variety, says Judith Berger, owner of Culinary Concepts cooking school, 2930 N. Swan Road.

"There are lots of different additives to mashed potatoes that people are doing now, such as truffle oil, sautéed leaks, onions and tomatoes, and feta cheese," she said.
Berger offers two important tips for working with tubers.

"If you're boiling them, start them off in cold water, not hot," she said. "And another thing a lot of people tend to do is under-salt potatoes. They take a lot of salt because they're a starch, so they actually absorb salt. In fact, if you're making a soup or chowder and find that it's too salty, throw some potatoes in there to fix it."