How Antoine Augustin Parmentier Tricked The World Into Loving Potatoes
The diligence of an 18th century French scientist was instrumental in making potatoes one of the most popular sources of food in the world
Potatoes are one of the most versatile and popular foods in the world. From french fries to mashed potatoes, and many concoctions in between, tubers are eaten in great quantities around the world. However, they might not enjoy such popularity if it wasn’t for a Frenchman named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who spent his life trying to convince people that they were good eating; first by education and then by trickery.
Born in 1737, Parmentier was a French agronomist and pharmacist who loved the study of plants and science. He did extensive work regarding nutrition, helping pioneer extracting sugar from beets, studied methods to conserve food like refrigeration, opened a bread-making school and was an early proponent of the smallpox vaccine.
The potato is what the scientist eventually became best known for. It may not have even crossed his mind to study as a food source if not for a stint he served in a Prussian prison as a prisoner of war in the Seven Years War after he was captured performing his duty as an army pharmacist. It was behind bars that…
