Feeding the People by Rebecca Earle

This book’s full title is Feeding the People, The politics of the Potato. This is an interesting look at history through the lens of the potato. There are stories that it was the elite that introduced the potato in different parts of the world. They can make great stories. However, Rebecca Earle disputes this and talks about how it was the ordinary people that adopted the potatoes in different parts of the world.

I have been reading a lot of history through a number of lenses and different angles recently. Others I have recently reviewed is history through the lens of music and the mosquito. This is another view of history. This is story telling through food, especially the potato. So, this is potato and history.

Potatoes rank fourth in value with regards to foods. It is behind wheat, maize, and rice in volume. It is the fifth most valuable crop. Rebecca Earle talks about how lots of ordinary people accepted and adapted to the potato long before they drew the attention of the elite.

It is interesting that the governments at one time got very interested in what their people were eating. This started in Britain at the time of Boer War (1899) because the government found 40% to 60% of the people too malnourished for recruitment for the war. Britain also found the same problem going into WWI (1914). With the Enlightenment, people thought there was a relationship between the health and vigor of the population and the wealth and power of the state.

Rebecca Earle talks about the potato through different periods of time after it becoming available to Europe in the 16th Century. Mostly it was regarded as a good nutritious food, but not always. Elites sometimes thought of the potato as a source of excellent nutrition for the poor and at other times thought of potato eaters as lazy.

Some reviewers have criticized what they call her formulistic writing, but personally, I found the book interesting and the history of the potato fascinating. Unfortunately, I cannot give links to reviews because the papers where they are, are locking anyone out who is not a subscriber. Potatoes were unknow outside the Andes before the 16th century. Now they are everywhere.

I like to hear authors speak about their books. However, I could not find any video by Rebecca Earle. I did find some essays by her and some reviews of her essays and book. See the links below. If you like her essays, you can go on and get the book. It is an easy and interesting read.

How the Humble Potato Fuelled The Rise of Liberal Capitalism by Rebecca Earle is an essay that she wrote. It is an interesting essay and well worth the read. A review of this essay by Carissa Chew is on the Retrospect Journal. You can read another essay of Rebecca Earle at The Conversation. It is entitled Beyond porridge: pigeon in a kettle and other prison-cell cuisine.

Oliver Wiseman reviews this book and one on coffee at The Critic. Diego Arguedas Ortiz at BBC gives a history of the potatoes and mentions Rebecca Earle. There is a review of this book also at Potato Grower. The reviewer says the book is potato centric with recipes woven throughout.

An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.