Today's Trivia - The Potato Ban

Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century. But the new vegetable was slow to be adopted by distrustful European farmers. Wherever it was presented (outside of Ireland), it was considered strange and poisonous.

France went so far as considering the potato evil, convinced that the tuber could cause leprosy and other diseases. The potato was only used as pig food. Even the peasants that were starving wouldn’t eat it. In 1748, the production and consumption of potatoes was banned by the French Parliament.

The potato’s reputation did not change for the better until French chemist, Antoine August Parmentier, came on the scene. While serving as an army pharmacist for France in the Seven Years War, he was captured by the Prussians, and while in captivity, he (along with other prisoners) was fed only potatoes. He witnessed no ill effects, and became convinced that the potato was safe to eat.

On his return to France, Parmentier began his mission to popularize the potato, which he felt had been unfairly rejected. Thanks largely to his efforts, the Paris Faculty of Medicine declared potatoes edible in 1772. The production and consumption of potatoes began again after a French law gave the vegetable a clean chit that same year.

There was still resistance and suspicion amongst the people, despite the fact that the potato had been declared safe to eat, but eventually it was accepted and its popularity skyrocketed. There’s no doubt that famine was a great motivator to the potato’s acceptance.