A drive through southern Alberta’s potato country last week inspired me
to seek information via the worldwide web.
With the Potato Growers of Alberta in mind, I keyed in the initials.
What’s this? A whole lot of golf. Sure, there are a few parallels
between golf and potato growing, if you look hard enough.
Hills usually figure in both, as do water hazards. And certainly
slicing. On a small scale, both potato growing and golf require the
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participant to strike the earth with a blunt instrument.
Potatoes and golf balls share a spherical shape at certain stages, but
the search remained.
Another website foray: Planetary Gemologists Association; Polish
Geothermal Association. The stuffy sounding Policy and Global Affairs
group and the intriguing Placencia Guided Adventures site from Belize
came up. At last, a semblance of agricultural content appeared in the
form of the Pasturalists and Graziers Association, in Australia.
But where were those potato growers? Sitting happily under
www.albertapotatoes.ca, as it turns out, with an attractive site full
of facts as befits an industry that has grown an average eight percent
annually since 1990-91.
The potato industry is a bright spot in agriculture these days, at
least in terms of consumer demand. As recently reported in Canadian
Geographic, french fries are the most popular item on menus and account
for 85 percent of all potatoes grown in North America. We eat our own
weight in potatoes each year, says the magazine.
Agriculture Canada says half the Canadian crop is processed into french
fries. Another 10 to 15 percent goes into potato chips and dehydrated
products.
Worldwide, potatoes are the fourth largest crop and are considered the
most important vegetable crop in Canada. In 2000, Canada was the 13th
largest potato producer in the world.
Ag Canada notes there is scope for increased Canadian production but
development of new products and niche markets will be crucial for
industry growth.
United States-based Ore-Ida, a potato company owned quite fittingly by
Heinz, the ketchup people, is johnny-on-the-spot with that. This spring
it launched a line of Funky Fries, which come in different shapes,
colours and flavours – cinnamon and sugar, sour cream and jive, a cocoa
flavour and a vivid blue crisp.
That should jazz up the dinner plate. And possibly ensure that potatoes
remain more popular than golf.
