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Here are today’s food finds about potatoes:

The word potato is derived from a Native American word “Batata”

The first cultivated potatoes date back to 500o BC in Peru. Originally, they were purple and when cooked they turn a deep blue color.

Most of the nutrients found in potatoes are in its skin.

The average American eats 140 pounds of potatoes per year.

The word spud actually means “to dig a small hole in the ground, similar to spade, a tool to dig small holes.

Did you know that February is National Snack Food Month? Check out our STRANGE snack food taste off!

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

• 1795 Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge was born. A German chemist who developed a method for obtaining sugar from beet juice.

• 1886 Wilhelm Koppers was born. This cultural anthropologist developed theories on the origins of society based on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes.

• 1898 John Sherman of Worcester, Massachusetts received a patent for the first machine to fold and seal envelopes.

• 1925 Actor Jack Lemmon was born. A couple of his film titles: ‘The Fortune Cookie’ and ‘Days of Wine and Roses’

• 1946 Adolfo De La Parra of the music group ‘Canned Heat’ was born.