When you think of the potato, you think of Ireland. There’s a good reason for that. The potato played a very important part in Irish history. More than a hundred years ago the people of Ireland depended upon the potato crop for most of their food. Then, in 1846, the potato blight destroyed that whole year’s crop. More than 600,000 people died of famine!

But the familiar Irish potato did not originate in Ireland. It is a native of the highlands of Ecuador and Peru. Even today it can be found there growing wild. When the Spaniards came to Peru they found the potato and brought it back with them to Spain early in the sixteenth century. From Spain it spread all over Europe and became very popular with the people.