Presenting the Potato: Accept or Reject?

I think the potato depicts the attitude and status of Britain and Ireland in the 16th century. Britain rejected the potato like most of Europe because as Pollan describes on page 199, “Europeans hadn’t eaten tubers before; the potato was a member of the nightshade family (along with the equally disreputable tomato); potatoes were thought to cause leprosy and immortality; potatoes were mentioned nowhere in the Bible; potatoes came from America where they were a staple for an uncivilized and conquered race.” I can just imagine British royalty scrunching their noses and looking away from this dirty brown vegetable with disgust and disapproval. On the contrary, Ireland was delighted at this glorious vegetable that was cheap and plentiful. The potato was to be their outlet from poverty and famine, thus they welcomed it with high hopes and high spirits. The attitude of the British during the 16th century was therefore more regal and financially sound. Especially in the beginning when the future was looking very good for most of Europe, they could afford better things and did not need to waste time with the lowly potato. In addition, food is very much a symbol of status and because the potato was associated with unfavorable things it would do no good for the British status to include it in their diet; in a culture rich with delicacies there was no room for that vegetable. But the Irish land loved the potato and so did its people. Their attitude was not picky, like the British, because they were in no financial position to be so and thus embraced the potato with open arms. In addition their status was not level with the British either because Ireland was not rich but poor. So therefore by accepting the potato, the Irish demonstrate their economic status by exhibiting their desperation for food; because who would take in something most of Europe just rejected?