Are the French Fries Going “Extinct”? the Truth Behind the Scare.

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French Fries

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The short answer is no. It was a lousy year in North America, with a slow start of the growing season, due to a longer than usual winter, and an abrupt ending, during the harvest, drowned in rains and blizzards. Yet there is no reason to panic.

Sure, the production is down by more than 6% in the US alone, with heavy loses for Canadian crops, too. But potatoes are cultivated all around the globe. The french fries producers will likely find replacement stocks in Europe or somewhere else. And, albeit the following years will also feature unpredictable weather conditions, and most likely potato crops will be affected, the potatoes are not affected by implacable pathogens like bananas are. Potatoes are a rather resilient species. They only become vulnerable when they are excessively wet. Tiny pores in their skin get larger than usual, creating a gateway to various bacterial or fungal infections.

Selecting and developing even more resilient species is underway, but it takes time. And apparently, genetic modifications are a tough choice too since most potatoes have four chromosomes instead of two, which increases the complexity of finding the right genes for a specific disease-resistance. Until then, maybe you should simply enjoy your french fries every time you can.

Now just taste these:

9 Potato Recipes That Could Rival French Fries

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