Inspired by Boy’s consumption of an overwhelming amount of Mashed Potatoes last night , I decided it was high time to support the United Nations via the blog.  Did you know that the United Nations declared that 2008 is officially The International Year of the Potato?

Potatoes are awesome.  Just think of all the yummy potato possibilities there are for yummy potato consumption.  Here are a few:

Mashed Potatoes, French Fries, Potato Pancakes, Sweet Potato Pie, Potato Latkes, Baked Potatoes, Twice-Baked Potatoes, Potato Skins, Potato Bread (ultra yummy), Hash Browns, Country Potatoes, Potato Tart, Potatoes Lyonnaise, Potato Doughnuts, Cream of Potato Soup, Au Gratin Potatoes, Tater Tots and I cannot forget my favorite Potato Perogi… Ah, deliciouness…

Also, there are some other excellent inedible potato things:

Mr. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head, Potato Cannons (awesome!), Potato Batteries (it’s true, potatoes have power), Potato Sack Races… Fun!

Unfortunately, there are also some bad associations with the Potato… And here is a little information about the most infamous…  The Potato Famine (also called The Great Hunger) diminished the population of Ireland by 20 – 25%.  That is over a million people!   That is crazy to think about.  In addition to that, an estimated million people were forced to flee Ireland.  And even though the Potato Famine started in 1845 and lasted only six years, there is still much debate over the root causes and what could have/should have been done to stop it wreaking such havoc.  People are still fighting (and quite dramatically, if their blogs are any indication) about it.  In fact, “Never Forget the Potato Famine” is still used as a call to arms for many Irish people.