Rebecca Earle

Remarkably Well Researched. This is a history likely unlike any you've ever read - a look at the changing philosophies of government as they relate to the rise and fall of the potato. This is certainly one of the more novel histories I've read, and perhaps because of the author being aware of such novelty and the criticism it can often engender, is also the singular most well documented book I've ever read - literally 42% of the edition I read was bibliography and index. (More normal in my experience is closer to 25-30% even on the more complete side.) Certainly a very interesting approach, filled with various bits of history I had not known and/ or considered in such detail. Very much recommended.… (mais)

Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato by Rebecca Earle is an engrossing read about the intersection of food and politics.

I admit that I find histories that connect the mundane daily aspects of life to the larger, often political, aspects. This volume does a great job of presenting the potato as both a staple of many people's diets as well as a site of conflict over governmental intrusion. Basically, over time, we have been both encouraged and discouraged from eating the potato. We have been told what ways to use it and what ways to avoid using it for our health. Yet we don't want the government to tell us what to eat at the same time that we insist they protect our health and safety through inspections and standards.

The part that spoke most directly to me, mainly because it involves a philosopher I have studied and read extensively, is where Earle brings Foucault's understanding of power into play. Particularly the idea that some people are helped to live while others are prodded toward death. Diet and how foods are promoted and provided play just one part of the larger picture, but an essential one. The most affordable is often the least healthy. The most healthy foods are often priced out of the reach of those people who are considered expendable.

Utilizing the history of the potato Earle offers a glimpse at how food is never simply sustenance, even dating back to the times we might have thought it would. The tendency to use food as both a marker of privilege and a tool for oppression is highlighted in this fascinating story.

While written for an academic audience, the writing is accessible to most readers. It is deceptively dense, in that it presents a great deal of information without being too dry or "scholarly" for a popular readership.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mais)

Good smells exude from crumbled earth.
The rough bark of humus erupts
knots of potatoes (a clean birth)
whose solid feel, whose wet inside
promises taste of ground and root.
To be piled in pits; live skulls, blind-eyed.
~Seamus Heaney, "At a Potato Digging"



The potato is probably the world's most underappreciated food. In South America, it did not get the ceremony of corn, but it did travel the world and quickly after they were discovered. According to the United Nations, the potato is grown in every country of the world (five nations, however, provided no information). Potatoes thrived in South America but failed catastrophically in Ireland due to a blight. South American's crops, however, were not monocultures like the Irish, several varieties were grown together. Just about every culture has potato dishes from the Americas, through Africa, the Middle East, and China. China now is the largest producer of potatoes in the world together with India they account for 1/3 of the worlds potato production. Even Saudi Arabia produces close to half a million tons of potatoes.

Potatoes have been credited with growing community, self-sufficiency, tax evasion, evil (since they are not in the Bible), and hypertension, Rebecca Earle's Potato shows the potato in its historic role in the west and now around the world. The potato proves to be a staple with little fanfare, except for a few poets and painters, despite its worldwide popularity.



Available Mich 21, 2019… (mais)

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I wholeheartedly admit that potatoes are my favorite food, so I was very interested to read about the history behind them and the connotations that we give them. This is a short, fast read full of intriguing facts about potatoes and how this one food has traveled globally to become one of the most recognized foods in every culture.

I enjoyed that Earle featured art inspired by potatoes in this and that we got to learn a little more about how each culture views potatoes. I especially thought the history of it and the politics behind it was incredibly interesting. There are a couple of recipes included in this, but mostly, this is a book about where the potato comes from and what sort of meaning we’ve given to it within our current lives.

This would be a great coffee table book for people to peruse, or if you’re like me and are obsessed with food, this is a great nonfiction/history read.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.… (mais)