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True Andean
Potato growing in the Andes goes back thousands of years: it is the very symbol of the agriculture and the gastronomy of the Andean people. Each family had its "own" potato and knowledge of that particular tuber was passed from generation to generation. Thanks to this, the variety of potatoes multiplied, giving an extraordinary bio-diversity (often the tubers were given the name of the family that cultivated it). Unfortunately this wealth has been all but lost. However, there are small communities of farmers that are not giving up. One year ago the indigenous communities of the Andes, came together in the form of ANDES - Association for Nature and Sustainable Development - and signed a historic treaty with the CIP, pledging to open the Center's seed bank unreservedly to the local populations. Some Andean farmers' groups are part of Slow Food (www.slowfood.com), an international non- profit organization, founded in 1989, to support eno-gastronomic culture, as well as bio-diversity and environmentally-friendly farming practices.
One Slow Food center operates in the south central part of Peru, born from the collaboration with ANPE (National Association of Ecological Producers). There are five native varieties of potato, including locka and ococuri: these are the highest-growing potatoes in the world, planted on terraced earth between 3800 and 4200 meters above sea level. They belong to the so-called bitter type - they can only be consumed when dehydrated or dried. This bitter potato plays a very important role in the nutrition of the locals because, thanks to traditional techniques, they can be preserved for years. The most important preparation is the chuño, also known as tunta or morata: frozen papas, dried and crushed, and left to dry in the sun. In the Cajamarca region of Peru, there is a community dedicated to the cultivation of local tubers such as manioca and camote - a sweet orange root - and oca, native to the Cordilleras and the staple diet of the Incas. In Argentina there is a community of descendents of Amerindian groups that is fighting to defend their Andean origins by cultivating potatoes. At Quebrada de Humahuaca, at an altitude of between 2100 and 3800 meters they plant among others, papa azul, which is a sweet tuber with a dark blue skin dotted with white, and the papa señorita, which has patchy pink and white skin. Terra madre These communities are part of the Food Community of Terra Madre , a Slow Food initiative.
From the farmers of the Ringerikspotet, a small community of potato farmers north of Oslo, Norway, to the farmers of Ambohimiadana, who plant organic tubers in the paddy fields of Madagascar, 5000 people from all over the world have come together to share their knowledge. Here are three recovery initiatives already underway by some potato-centric food communities around the world. Brazil The Krahô Indians inhabit 16 villages on a reserve in the north-east of the state of Tocantins. Thanks to one seed bank, EMBRAPA, they have been able to reclaim their agricultural memory, replanting numerous traditional varieties that had been considered lost. Today the community produces sweet potato flour. The sweet potatoes are cooked on open fires wrapped in banana leaves. The resulting flour, having been dried on palm-leaf mats for three days, can be kept for a whole year. Uganda The basic mission of the "Cape of Good Hope" is to offer support to orphans and the elderly. The organization promotes sustainable farming centered on the recovery of yams, which were at one time the primary crop, as an alternative to wheat whose price has gone through the roof.
New Zealand Kumara is a sweet potato from Polynesia, and is, perhaps, at present the most popular potato in New Zealand. It was introduced a millennium ago by the Maoris, who became experts at growing it. Today, however, they are no longer able to. Graham Harris (recipient of a Slow Food prize for biodiversity) has helped the Maori communities to reestablished contact with their traditional agricultural practices, and to begin once again to plant their own potato varieties, which are particularly resistant to disease. |
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