2008: Year of the Potato

People, there’s something you have to know. 2008 is the International year of the Potato. That’s right. A whole YEAR of potato festivities. Talk about heaven.

Now this is especially concerning because we’ve already let 17 potential days of spud love pass us by. But that leaves a whole 348 days of potato festivities ahead of us. Truth be told, I don’t know how to go about celebrating a whole year of potatoes. So I went to the UN International Year of the Potato website to find out.

There, they’ve got a handy ”potato calendar” that flags all the good stuff. This February comes the International Potato Technology Expo. Then we’ve got a bunch of do-gooders meeting in Peru this March to convene and discuss the hot topic of “potato science for the poor.” Finally far off into the future in October don’t forget ”Potato week 2008” in Spain - which makes it Semana de la Patata (which begs the question, how does a potato week distinguish itself from a potato year? Are the two not redundant?). And finally, for those that will be sad to see the year of the potato go come December 31, 2008, never fear. The I7th World Potato Congress takes place in March 2009.

I’m personally puzzled as to why Mr. Potato Head isn’t making an appearance during the year of the potato (I mean seriously, it’s a golden opportunity). Also, I think some potato lore, poetry and proverbs wouldn’t go amiss. I stumbled upon this Irish one that my unimaginative head can’t quite process. It goes like this: “"It is easy to halve the potato where there’s love.” ...? As in, people who love are generous and share? They’re good at eying the irregular shape of spuds and cutting them perfectly in half? People in love are rich in potatoes? ?  ?

Moving along. May I also recommend the UN web page that explains the origins of the potato. In fact, the entire “Potato” subsection is a revelation. Did you know there are over 200 species of wild potato that grow in the Americas and over 5,000 varieties grown in the Andes alone. Don’t you want to each every single one!! Where are the potato tours? I want to taste the whole gamut of them. Yum yum. Now that’s an idea worth exploring; a potato eating tour of the Andes. I would SO go.