ELISE NANAN

FOOD SYSTEM ASSIGNMENT. (POTATOES)

 PRODUCTION (GROWING)

• Maintain even moisture, especially from the time

when sprouts appear until several weeks after they
blossom. The plants need 1 to 2 inches of water per
week. If you water too much right after planting and
not enough as the potatoes begin to form, the tubers
can become misshapen.
• Do the hilling in the morning, when plants are at their
tallest. During the heat of the day, plants start
drooping.
• The last hilling should be done before the potato
plants bloom, when the aboveground part of the plant
is at least a foot tall. Hoe the dirt up around the base
of the plant in order to cover the tubers as well as to
support the plant.
• Practice yearly crop rotation with potatoes.
PRODUCTION (HARVESTING)

• Toughen up potatoes for storage before

harvest by not watering them much after mid-
August.
• Dig up a test hill to see how mature the
potatoes are. The skins of mature potatoes are
thick and firmly attached to the flesh. If the
skins are thin and rub off easily, your
potatoes are still too new and should be left
in the ground for a few more days.
• Potatoes can tolerate light frost, but when the
first hard frost is expected, it’s time to get out
the shovels and start digging potatoes.
 PROCESSING (CHIPS)

• The potato slices are washed to get rid of the starch

that seeps onto the edge of the potato once it is cut.
• The potatoes are then put into a vat of vegetable oil
that always bubbles at 190ºC (375ºF). As the potato
chips cook the water inside them turns to steam. The
steam travels upward and the space that the water
took up in the potato slice is replaced by the oil,
making the potato chip crisp.
• When chips are cooked the starch in the potato turns
brown and inspectors ensure that the chips are the
right colour before removing them from the vat.
PROCESSING (POTATO STARCH)

• The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant

contain starch granules (leucoplasts).
• To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed
and the starch grains are released from the
cells.
• The starch is then washed out and dried to
powder.
PROCESSING (FRENCH FRIES)

• The potatoes are skinned, washed and fed into tube with
high-pressure water
• the potatoes are skinned, washed and fed into tube with
high-pressure water
• The water sends the potatoes through the tube at 60 to 70
miles per hour, and shoots them through blades that slice
them into the familiar fry shape.
• On the other side of the blades, the fries are covered in
sugar.
• Then the fries are coated in sodium acid pyrophosphate,
which keeps the fries from graying after freezing.
PACKAGING

• Paper, plastic or mesh bags are all options

for the potato buyer, distributor or warehouse
to select their choice.
DISTRIBUTION

• There are two main peaks in global potato

distribution by latitude. The major peak is
between 45°N and 57°N and represents
potato production zones in the temperate
climates where potato is a summer crop. ...
About 25% of the global potato area is in
the highlands (above 1000 m).
CONSUMPTION

• Average potato consumption per capita reached

33.5 kg in 2017 in the World according to
Faostat. Historically, average potato consumption
per capita reached an all time high of 35.7 kg in
1961 and an all time low of 26.0 kg in 1991
CONCLUSION

• I think that the food system would be important to customers because, they would know
where their foods are coming from whether it’s coming from professionals that know
what their doing or not. They would also be able to know if the foods are safe to eat.