"The potato can be eaten fresh, or it can be stored over winter. It can be boiled, baked, fried, roasted, grated, mashed or turned into soup. What doesn't get eaten can be dried, frozen, ground into flour or turned into vodka. Old sprouting spuds are clones poised to do what clones do best: replicate. Potatoes trail wheat, rice, and maize in the global staple stakes, but overall are more nourishing and more versatile than any of the grains. Food writers sometimes refer to the simple spud: what could be humble about the uber-tuber? For most of the world, life without the potato would be unthinkable. The mystery is that western civilisation got by without it for so long." (thanks Anindya)