Here are Some Potato Fun Facts!
Potatoes are comprised of 80% water.
Potatoes were the very first food to be grown in space! They boarded the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1995 to boldly go where no spud had gone before!
Guinness World Book of Records says the world’s largest potato was recorded as weighing a whopping 10 pounds, 14 ounces. An average newborn baby weighs just 7 pounds and 5 ounces.
French Fries aren’t French!! The first French Fry can be traced back to Belgium where villagers fried up potatoes over 300 years ago!
Potatoes were born in the Andes Mountains, and there are over 4000 natural varieties grown in over 100 countries around the world today! 2800 of those varieties can be found in Peru! (Happy Birthday)
More than a billion people eat potatoes!
Have you tried White Chocolate Peppermint, Pigs in a Blanket, and Octopus Flavour potato chips? Yes, these chips are a real thing!
Potatoes and Tomatoes are cousins! They’re so closely related that if you graft a tomato onto a potato you can grow tomatoes and potatoes on the same plant! That way you have your ketchup with your fries!
The World’s Largest Potato Chip was made by Pringles and is over 2 feet long and 1 foot wide and weighed over 1/3 of a pound!
Sweet Potatoes are NOT potatoes!
The Incas had a Goddess of Potatoes – Axomamma.
Potatoes are gluten free.
People used to use hot potatoes to keep their beds warm – and moms would slip hot potatoes into their children’s pockets to help them keep warm on cold winter days. In Victorian times, street vendors sold hot potatoes to warm up ladies hands!
Poutine was invented in Canada!
Potatoes are just used for food – potato starch makes a great adhesive and is used to create laminates.
Potato starch can be used to make plastic forks and spoons that biodegrade in just 2 -5 months!
The original game of Mr. Potato Head used real potatoes!
Shoe Shine Please! Cut a potato in half and rub it on leather shoes. Let stand 5 minutes and polish for a brand new shiny looking shoe!
A cure for what ails you! Potatoes have been touted for health benefits ranging from improving arthritis to curing stomach ulcers and even some melanomas!