Future of Potatoes

Two countervailing trends in potato production and consumption probably will persist: one favoring uniformity, mass production, and processing and the other favoring a return to greater biodiversity and flavor. Even if genetic engineering is not accepted for comestible potatoes, it will contribute additional nonfood uses for starch, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and chemical polymers for plastics and synthetic rubbers. In addition, with their strict standards for marketing and processing, potatoes will continue to serve as a model philanthropic crop. The Virginia-based Society of Saint Andrew each year gleans about 20 million pounds of potatoes rejected by commercial markets and processing plants and redirects them to soup kitchens, Native American reservations, food pantries, and other hunger agencies, at a cost of about four cents per pound for the shipping.