![[Media/Papas_de_colores_de_Chiloe.jpg]] [Potatoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato) are even older than corn, developed by South Americans over the period from 10,000 to 7,000 years ago, in a high-altitude plateau region of what is now Peru and Bolivia called the *altiplano*. Even today, markets in many remote villages still sell hundreds of potato varieties that people outside the region have never seen. South Americans bred potatoes for a wide range of uses. Because potatoes have a higher water content than grains, farmers learned to freeze-dry them for long-term storage. Potatoes would among the first “New World” products carried back to Spain by the conquistadors. They were widely adopted by European farmers and had solved Europe’s recurring famine problem by 1900. British economist Adam Smith, in his book _An Inquiry On the Wealth of Nations_, called Europe’s attention to the fact that fields planted with potatoes instead of wheat would feed three times as many people. ---- Next: [[1.14 - Cassava]] Back : [[1.12 - Rice]]