Talk:Potato/Archive 5

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Edit request - add new Potato type

http://www.wefs.co.nz/urenika/

Hello, can the 'urenika' potato be added to this locked page, as a type of potato ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gordonisnz (talk • contribs) 01:11, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Gordonisnz (talk) 01:13, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

http://potatoassociation.org/Industry%20Outreach/varieties/Russets/norgold_russet.html

Norgold russets have been an important crop in the American Plains states for quite a while. My father grew Norgolds for chips when I was young. Seems a shame not to list them in the cultivars section.

Adavidmundt (talk) 03:29, 10 May 2012 (UTC) A. D. Mundt Adavidmundt (talk) 03:29, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

 Done Steven Walling • talk 23:13, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Edit request

{{editsemiprotected}} Under section "Other uses" I'd like to add Akvavit as an alcoholic beverage that at least in Norway is made out of potato.

The edited first sentence in that section should be changed from :

* Potatoes are also used to brew alcoholic beverages such as [[vodka]], and [[potcheen]].

to

* Potatoes are also used to brew alcoholic beverages such as [[vodka]], [[Akvavit]] and [[potcheen]].

Perwei (talk) 15:55, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Hello, could you just provide a source for that?  fetchcomms☛ 18:33, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Amazingly, Encyclopedia Brit. has an article on Akvavit [1] mentioning potatoes as a base. I put that ref in the akvavit article. Novickas (talk) 18:55, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

 Done is in article. Chzz 11:17, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Racism in Potato Depictions Throughout Modern Western Imperialist Tradition

Much evidence points to an incontrovertible fact: The potato has found expression in the hands of the weak though politically powerful "artists" on the dole of (governmentally enthroned) mutinational corporations and various enslaving subsidiaries, binary and tertiary parties, who have attempted repeatedly to equivocate (that is, equally vocate: join in the more abstract universe "expressive medium") the homely legume with various races of the earth; the more blighted, the more represented, especially during periods where the relevant racism is more politically correct (though when isn't it, when behind the closed doors?).

Several PhDs to my knowledge have centered their honest and incorruptibly scholarly careers in demonstrating this. What is more important than eliminating this image from history, that of planting the brown man within the earth and using his outgrowths for all forms of domination, such that the oppressed is blamed for all violences done, and even "potato gun" has entered the stratum of universal lexicon.

Rise, administrators of Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.232.191.16 (talk) 20:18, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

Potato/Electricity

Why is there no mention of the whole lightbulb experiment? Can't you shove a lightbulb into a potato and light it? There was something like that back in school... 216.136.4.136 (talk) 15:20, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

hehe...you're thinking of the potato clock. Yes, a functioning clock (or LED lights) can be powered by potato, but it's not actually a potato-unique trait. Galvanized (zinc) nails chemically react with the phosphorous in a potato, causing the zinc to lose a pair of electrons. On the opposite side of the circuit, a copper wire placed in the potato will react with the phosphorous, picking up electrons, from where they flow through the line, across a low-voltage load, and ultimately, to the nail, where the electrons are lost via the aforementioned reaction. It might be notable for this article if it couldn't be done with about a jillion other fruits and vegetables (potatoes just happen to have an ideal cost-to-workability ratio for most science fair projects).
--K10wnsta (talk) 06:09, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Who saw it?

This article says

In 1553, in the book Cronica del Peru Pedro Cieza de Leon mention, that saw it in Quito, Popayan and Pasto.

Who saw it? The Author? An historical figure mentioned in the book? The Spanish sailors mentioned in this article? What is it? One potato? The behavior of potato farming? The behavior of Spanish sailors giving people potatoes? Does anyone have access to a copy of this book?

--BrianFennell (talk) 21:59, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Time to rethink the potato?

A portion of boiled new potatoes contains a quarter of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C - more than a portion of carrots or an apple - and contains nearly a third of daily levels of vitamin B6, some potassium, and even protein. With the skin on a potato it also offers fibre and iron. Time to rethink the potato?; BBC --85.197.210.44 (talk) 15:57, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Vital potatoes

"The potato contains vitamins and minerals that have been identified as vital to human nutrition" Is this a joke? 1) Quite many vitamins and minerals have been identified as being vital... 2) Can anybody name any common food that does not contain these "vital vitamins and minerals"?Markus00000 (talk) 19:57, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, removed "that have been identified as vital to human nutrition".  Chzz  ►  11:05, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Champ

This preparation is mentioned in the UK section. I've lived in the UK all my life and it meant nothing to me. The link says that it is an Irish dish. Should it not be moved to the Irish section? Myrvin (talk) 10:02, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Agreed; the whole bit about UK/England/Ireland/Scotland was a bit confused; I've attempted a rewrite - see what you think.  Chzz  ►  11:15, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 80.248.190.38, 18 May 2010

{{editsemiprotected}} The sentence that references FAOSTAT and says 2006 production was 315 million is wrong, according to the given reference. FAOSTAT says 2006 production was 305 million. 2008 production was 314 million. Please use one of the correct figures.

80.248.190.38 (talk) 10:51, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Updated to 314m, 2008. Thanks,  Chzz  ►  11:02, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

 Done

ERROR - Output by countries

In the list of the production, BELGIUM is mistyped instead of BELARUS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.128.92.124 (talk) 07:09, 7 June 2010 (UTC) . Also, a refreshed table can be used with a link to the source. A see below http://www.potato2008.org/en/world/index.html - good enough

Role in world food supply

I wish to bring to attention the section entitled, "Role in world food supply."

First of all, I wish to make note of the box on the right in which "Top Potato Producers in 2006" lists several countries, but does not include Ireland. I find the lack of inclusion of Ireland unclear. The potato was, at least at one time, a staple food of the country because the climate is ideal for growing potatoes, while poor for other crops. Perhaps this has changed since the potato famine. I think this is definitely worth a little research. The famine is noted later on in the History section. Perhaps if Ireland is not among the top ten 2006 world producers, it might be worth noting this in the History section. Even today, Ireland is as commonly associated with the potato as Idaho.

Second, at the bottom of the "Top Potato Producers in 2006" box, the source is linked as Source: "UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[2]" where [2] either produces an error page http://faostat.fao.org/app_support/SmartError.aspx?404&eid=faostat.fao_rb_error_a6e39e8b55444245bba99715f1593613, or the page fails to load correctly, which limits the ability to research my first point. I therefore suggest that the FAOSTAT website needs to be re-evaluated as a proper reference point (or else, their webmasters needs to be alerted to the invalid link). Christopher, Salem, OR (talk) 11:43, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

After posting the preceding, I found hidden amongst the other discussions the link to http://www.potato2008.org/en/world/index.html, which also notes the FAOSTAT site as a source.

According to this source, the 2007 production of potatoes in Ireland was "454 800 t," less than half of a million metric ton, which would rule Ireland out of the top 10 countries listed if that figure remained consistent. Thus I have managed to answer my own question, but if someone can and wishes to elaborate on this topic, please do so. Thank you. Christopher, Salem, OR (talk) 11:59, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

I notice that even in the map included in the article, China is one of the biggest producers of potato globally, however the Culinary Uses section (incorrectly) states that the potato isn't used much in China. I would guess that this perception is the result of Americans a) not having travelled much to China and b) mostly eating southern Chinese (ie Cantonese) foods, which are indeed far more likely to use rice as a primary source of starch. In the north of China, however, the potato is not at all unusual. In Beijing and other northern cities you can buy them roasted from street vendors. There are also a number of northern stir-fry dishes incorporating sliced potatoes. Emathias (talk) 17:56, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

Nutrition Data Seems Inaccurate

The table of nutritional information appears to claim that a smaller potato with the skin removed contains a greater quantity of vitamin C than a larger potato without its skin removed. This does not add up in my mind. I would generally expect a larger potato to contain more nutrients, and since I have heard that most of the vitamin C is in or near the skin, this makes me even more confused. Could someone please verify these data with a different, perhaps more reliable source? 75.161.191.114 (talk) 06:01, 19 July 2010 (UTC)Dan Kennedy, Minneapolis, MN

LOL, that's awesome. If you extrapolate, an infinitesimally small portion of peeled potato contains an infinite amount of vitamin C! 99.231.241.146 (talk) 12:54, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Agree with this- data is not correct as per Canadian nutrient file. There is not 15g of fiber in a 150g potato. Other values also seem off. Could someone please verify96.20.63.171 (talk) 20:51, 30 August 2010 (UTC)KC, Montreal

Edit request from 42Geo, 20 July 2010

{{editsemiprotected}} The article refers to "15th" century Basque fishermen crossing the Atlantic and using potatoes. What was meant was "16th" century (i.e. 1500s) since the article clearly indicates that the Spanish brought the potato back during the 16th century. Columbus was just "discovering" the West Indies in the latest 15th century (i.e. 1492-1498)

42Geo (talk) 19:03, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Done, good spot. Dabomb87 (talk) 19:11, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Pesticides

I removed the sentence:

Non-organic potatoes contain a high level of pesticides "because they have soft skin that tends to absorb more pesticides"

because

• The linked source didn't say they have a high level of pesticides
• The statement about the skin was a belief, but presented here as fact (rather weaselly "are believed" in the article (by whom, when, on what basis?)). It may be true, but let's have a source, not just some unnamed person's belief.
• Potatoes may contain the "highest" amongst the tested veggies, but they have the highest of the overall *very low* (parts per million) pesticide residue

To ingest 1 pound of pesticide from potatoes over a 74 year lifetime, you'd need to eat 59.3 pounds of taters every day from birth to your death (at 74 years old). Not that anyone would want to sit down with a plate of pure pesticide, but it does put the quantity in perspective. :-) Plus, how do you pack 59 pounds of taters inside an eight pound baby?

I linked to the actual analysis performed by the Environmental Working Group that was incorrectly reported on by CNN. That's what happens when we get out science from mass media. While I won't vouch for the correctness of EWG's analysis, at least their analysis is reported accurately now.

Marktaff (talk) 05:21, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Edit Request

Great article however, it should more correctly read "Potatoes are Canada's most important [vegetable] crop" to correlate with the cited reference "the potato is the most important vegetable crop in Canada, accounting for 35% of all vegetable farm cash receipts" from "Potatoes in Canada". Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Retrieved 29 June 2010. In its current state the article misleads the reader to believe the potato is the most important crop in Canada, a position held by wheat and other grains. Thanks. Anishnaadoc (talk) 21:53, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Done Agree that the clarification should be made, and it checked out against the source. —C.Fred (talk) 21:58, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

single acre for family?

the article says " A single acre of potatoes and the milk of a single cow was enough to feed a whole Irish family a monotonous but nutritionally adequate diet for a healthy, vigorous (and desperately poor) rural population"

i tried to calculate but it seems to me that a single acre is not enough. what you think? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.105.154.63 (talk) 08:39, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

Here's some calculations. According to this book potatoes yield 9.2 million calories/acre. [2] Bump that down to 8 million, to be conservative, /365 = 21,918 calories/day. Can't easily find this on WP, but I think 2,200 calories/day is enough to sustain life, plus what the cow gave. Novickas (talk) 15:15, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Storage - Edit Request - Template usage and Relative vs absolute Temperatures

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potato&diff=next&oldid=354417460
Changes were made to use templates for temperature conversion, unfortunately the templates can not automatically tell the difference between an absolute temperature and a relative temperature, which has caused the following statement
Maintain potatoes at various locations within 1°C (2°F) pulp temperature of one another.
to now read as
Maintain potatoes at various locations within 1 °C (34 °F) pulp temperature of one another.
SoloFlyer (talk) 07:05, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Rewrote the commercial storage paragraph; took out some temperature details, including the problematic one you mention; it might be a little too much detail for this article anyway. Novickas (talk) 15:21, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

edit request - 19th century Europe

Under this heading it is stated, "Other foods imported from the New World included cod, sugar, rice, flour, and rum." Rice was originally from the Far East (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice), and Europe was cultivating wheat, and therefore had flour, long before the "discovery" of the Americas. Also, rum itself is not a foodstuff, rather it is produced from other sources. Sugar is another food that was not solely native to the New World: "Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar). Not sure about cod, but 4 out of the 5 items mentioned here were NOT introduced from the New World. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zargon2010 (talk • contribs) 23:42, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

You make good points, so I've made an attempt to write around it. The citation itself is not open-access, but the cited author (John Komlos) writes something similar here [3]: "The New World provided nutrients in the form of sugar, dried cod, flour, and most importantly, new products such as the potato which increased agricultural productivity greatly (measured in calories per acre)." (Rum not mentioned). I think when he speaks of the nutrients - by sugar he means the immensely productive sugar plantations in the New World; by dried cod, the productivity of the Grand Banks fisheries. Neither originated in the New World, but cultivation/harvest there rose to new heights. His use of "flour" confused me too, but it's tangential to this article anyway, so took it out. Novickas (talk) 00:09, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

link 59 doesn't work

link 59 doesn't work

toxicity

solanine levels in !!!wet!!! potatos are 7–187 mg/kg but in dry potatos the solanine leves are higher 40-883mg/kg (see link 60!!!)

maybe change: "In normal potatoes" into "in cooked potatoes"... and add a line concerning the higher level in raw potatoes

Negative values for potato with peel

Why are some of the nutritional values of a LARGER serving for potato+peel smaller than a SMALLER serving of potato without peel? Also, why are there two tables for potato with peel that seem to contradict each other? I would correct this, but the article seems to be protected. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.231.241.146 (talk) 06:07, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

Just to be clear, adding skin to a potato makes several nutritional measures go down... and everyone is okay with this? Please nobody go rushing to disabuse me of my opinion that Wikipedia and logic are completely orthogonal. 99.231.241.146 (talk) 23:33, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

I don't quite understand what changes you want the article to take. The tables are sourced, so the only way to change them is by providing other reliable sources that present your point of view as valid and not as a personal opinion or original research.--MarshalN20 | ^Talk 14:01, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Ignore the table on the right column for now and look at the table appearing in the body of the text. To take just one of several examples, compare Vitamin C under "without skin" (33% RDA) and under "with skin" (28% RDA). Are we really to believe that 17 grams of potato skin contains -5% (negative five per cent) RDA of Vitamin C? Adding skin reduces several other values, as well. The preceding wasn't original research, but the following is: Potato skin is a miracle diet food! The more you eat, the more nutrients you lose! 99.231.241.146 (talk) 05:44, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

I checked the source used, and it is all correct. If you have any problems with the information, you should either provide a reliable source that supports your point of view or contact NutritionData.com ([4]). Wikipedia is just a medium through which information is brought to the public. We are not supposed to be "creating" anything (hence why original research is not allowed). Best regards.--MarshalN20 | ^Talk 22:12, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Edit request

--Bounty braveheart (talk) 10:50, 7 January 2011 (UTC) Please add 26,6°C next to "80 degrees Fahrenheit" in "Growth and cultivation" , thanks.

 Done Used {{convert}}. Rkitko ^(talk) 15:29, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 68.48.127.174, 27 February 2011

{{edit semi-protected}} Footnote 82 appears to be vandalism.

68.48.127.174 (talk) 23:55, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Not done: please be more specific about what needs to be changed. I'm not sure if someone already fixed it, but right now ref 82 is to an article in PNAS, which is definitely not vandalism. If there's still a problem, please make a new edit request. It may help if you indicate the sentence that the note is attached to. Qwyrxian (talk) 15:36, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

File:Russet potato cultivar with sprouts.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Russet potato cultivar with sprouts.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on August 2, 2011. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2011-08-02. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! howcheng {chat} 07:39, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Picture of the day

A Russet potato and the cross-section of another. Potatoes are the world's fourth-largest food crop. They originated in the area of present-day southern Peru and were domesticated 7,000–10,000 years ago. The Russet is the most commonly grown cultivar in the United States and Canada.Photo: ZooFari

Kartoffel König

The history section fails to mention Frederick the Great's role in the introduction of the potato as a staple crop in eastern Europe. See: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartoffelbefehl

Sca (talk) 00:45, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I agree that Fred's role deserves a sentence or two, it shows up in quite a few books. [5]. Are you familiar with Apoc's tool? [6]? It makes citing books very convenient. If you'd rather not, I'll put a sentence or two in myself in the near future. Novickas (talk) 02:13, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Spelling Error

, the potato had not only been introduced in the Frnche-Comté ..

s/b "Franche"

Can't edit to fix it.

Thanks for the alert. The spelling has since been corrected. Trafford09 (talk) 10:45, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

There is no mention in the article of Luther Burbank

There is no mention in the article of Luther Burbank, who developed the Burbank potato and launched his long and famous career as a plant breeder using the money from the sale of this cultivar, and then bred the Russet Burbank from a sport of the Burbank. He is not merely an important person in the history of the domesticated potato, but an example of potato capitalism. 24.27.31.170 (talk) 02:19, 3 August 2011 (UTC) Eric

potato blight turns a harvested potato to mush in minutes?

Section on Ireland reads: "Heavy dependence on this potato led to disaster when the potato blight turned a newly harvested potato into a putrid mush in minutes."

It seems unlikely that a fungal infection could turn a healthy potato to mush within minutes. Is this worded awkwardly and means something else, or is it really suggesting the the infection spreads quickly enough to destroy a potato that quickly. I'm a gardener, and I can believe that various diseases destroy produce within days or maybe even the course of a few hours, but minutes?

18:10, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

 Done Thanks for the alert. Sentence reworded. Trafford09 (talk) 10:43, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Dried mashed potato

Amazing. There seems to no reference at all on the net, let alone Wipedia, to Pom, the ration-free dried powdered potato we used to get during the war217.43.217.180 (talk) 16:54, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Rectified with this edit.

Health

Research just released by the University of California, Davis and the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology demonstrates that people can include potatoes in their diet and still lose weight. Reference 121.241.123.3 (talk) 10:18, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Potato eyes

Even though this article does a good job of explaining how potatoes are tubers propagated from their "eyes," perhaps a better description of what exactly a potato eye is would be appropriate considering the concept may be difficult to understand by those who are only familiar with seed propagation? mccullaj (talk) 15:43, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

If it could be found, a simple diagram labeling the parts of a potato would probably be even more useful than a more detailed :description, for those who are better at processing information that's presented visually. --Lmpalmer1 (talk) 03:29, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Copyright violations

I have removed some sections that were copy and pasted from sources. The editor who added it only made three edits which I have either removed or reworded but it would be good if someone can double check that my rewording is ok. SmartSE (talk) 12:15, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Protection

Should we try unprotecting this article for a while? It has been protected for > 2 years and it seems a shame for such an important article not to be able to be edited by IPs/new users. If no one objects I will unprotect it and we can see what happens over a month or so before reviewing the situation. SmartSE (talk) 12:15, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

No comments so I will be bold and keep an eye on it, reapplying protection if required. SmartSE (talk) 22:34, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

I've reprotected, given most of the (many) edits in the aftermath were vandalism. Gwen Gale (talk) 19:08, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

I was coming to the same conclusion... still, it was worth a try. SmartSE (talk) 19:47, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

More or less all the core food and livestock articles are semi-locked, being so beloved by bored middle-school boys. Gwen Gale (talk) 21:12, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

Edit request

Since the annual production is around 320 Mt, the annual average diet should be around 40kg per year, no? it is stated without ref as 33kg. Where does that come from? IsaacT (talk) 18:38, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

I've checked the reference cited at the end of the paragraph and can confirm it isn't mentioned there. I was going to change it as you suggest, but then I realised that potatoes aren't only used directly as human food but for starch and animal feed, so it is not as simple as dividing production by the population. I'll probably get through this in the next few weeks and will keep my eye out for any figures about this and update the article if I can. SmartSE (talk) 20:19, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

On p23 of the above document is says that "just over two-thirds of the 320 million tonnes of potatoes produced in 2005 were consumed by people as food, in one form or another" assuming that "just over two-thirds" is 70% then 33kg is correct: (330*0.7)/7 = 33. I'll add a it as a reference as I think this is an acceptable bit of WP:OR per WP:CALC but also explain it in the world food supply section. SmartSE (talk) 14:46, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Edit request

Is Norwis a new variety, or just similar to one already listed? Link to farmer growing it [http://tiverton.patch.com/articles/ferolbink-farms-owner-talks-tricks-of-the-potato-trade --Halmass (talk) 17:23, 11 November 2011 (UTC)]

Found this page from an organization called the European Cultivated Potato Database (though I cannot personally attest to its reliability). Since it is used by Frito-Lay, I see no reason not to include "Norwis" (just include the link you provided as a reference). Hamamelis (talk) 18:21, 11 November 2011 (UTC)