Announcing: Ode to Potato

The year 2008 has been declared the International Year of the Potato (IYP) by United Nations to raise awareness of Solanum Tuberosum. IYP was officially launched on 18th October, 2007. Did you know that the plastic bag of humble potatoes you casually pick up at the local supermarket is in fact vital food source for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world? Almost 213 million tonnes of potato are grown to eat every year from which half of it was plucked from the soils of developing countries, making it the fourth most important food crop in the world preceded by Rice, Wheat & Maize. Potato output has grown double in the past fifteen years and is expected to double again by 2020. This unassuming tuber is playing a strong role in developing countries due to the fact that it is more nutritious and it can grow very quickly on less land even in harsher climates than any major crop. In a right sense this humble Potato has become a Global Crop.

Image Source: IYP

According to the International Year of the Potato (IYP), "The celebration of the International Year of the Potato (IYP) will raise awareness of the importance of the potato - and of agriculture in general - in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment."

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Mission Statement
The mission of the International Year of the Potato is to increase awareness of the importance of the potato as a food in developing nations, and promote research and development of potato-based systems as a means of contributing to achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Image Source: IYP

IYP 2008: Challenges and opportunities
The International Year of Potato aims at raising the profile of this globally important food crop and commodity, giving emphasis to its biological and nutritional attributes, and thus promoting its production, processing, consumption, marketing and trade. Celebration of IYP 2008 is an opportunity to make a valid and effective contribution towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals:

• Food Security - improving access to safe and nutritious food
• Poverty alleviation
• Sustainable use of biodiversity
• Sustainable intensification of potato-based farming systems

IYP Logo
The logo of the International Year of Potato was created by Italian graphic designer Giancarlo de Pol. The main graphic elements - above, a bowl with harvested potatoes and below, in the earth, a golden tuber - symbolize the intimate link between humanity and agriculture. The slogan, "Hidden treasure", highlights the often overlooked importance of the potato for rural people, the economy and global food security. The IYP logo is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

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Because of the importance of this underestimated tuber, I have decided to host an event noting the key role of the potato as a staple food in the diet of the world’s population. I am hoping that our strong food blogger community will get together and increase the awareness of International Year of the Potato (IYP). Hence I invite you to participate in this one-off event - “Ode to Potato”.



The Guidelines:

1. Potato recipes in Indian and International cuisine are plenty. Mashed, boiled, grilled, fried, sautéed; you are spoiled for choices. Simple everyday potato recipes are most welcomed but it would be really interesting to try something new, something that you have bookmarked from your fellow blogger and wanting to try.
2. Any information and pictures of Potato you want to share are welcome.
3. Please remember that this is a fun event and don’t stress yourself if you are unable to participate. No one is gonna chase you with broom stick :) Send your entries if you are cooking up something in your kitchen and think it could be an entry to this event.
4. Feel free to use the logo in your post or on blog sidebar and please don’t forget to link back to this post. 2008 being a international year of the potato, you are welcome to use this logo whenever you post any potato dish but do link back to this post.
5. Once you have posted your recipe with a link back to this post, send your entries by March 15, 2008 to sia[at]monsoonspice[dot]com with the subject line ‘Ode to Potato’. Don’t forget to include your name, your blog’s name, the permalink of the entry, and picture of your recipe in your email. Don’t worry about resizing the image.
6. If you don’t have a blog but wish to participate in this event, send your entries with a picture, your name and recipe to sia[at]monsoonspice[dot]com before the deadline. I will post the recipes with your picture in my blog and include it in the round-up.
7. I will post the round-up by the end of March 08.

Please note that, I may not be able to leave comment in your blog due to time constraint but I’ll try to respond to your emails within 3 days. Please go through the guidelines carefully and mail me your entries. I'll not include your entries in the round-up unless I get them through emails as it's not feasible for me to check individual blogs and pick your entries. If you don’t get reply to your mail within 3 days, please send me the entries again as there is a high chance of your mail being sent to my spam folder.
Thank you friends. I am hoping to see grand round-up of this humble tuber:)

Cheers
Sia

Update:
Looks like it’s gonna rain potato this season in blogsphere. Our fellow blogger Dhivya of Culinary Bazaar is also hosting an event- The Potato Fe(a)st. Yup, another Potato event. So hop in all you wonderful foodies and let’s celebrate double dose of Potato;)