Russet Burbank: An Executive Summary Market

One of the most common association people make at the mentioning of the potato is French fries. Indeed, French fries and other frozen potato products is the most common way that potatoes are consumed in North America. In Canada, for example, the market for processed potato products is more than three times that of the market for fresh potatoes, with over 1.1 million metric tons of frozen French fries produced in 2015. Over 35% of all potatoes produced in the United States during this same year was used in the manufacturing of frozen French fries – producing up to a whopping 8 million metric tons. The French fry is now found virtually in every country around the globe, often following the footsteps of Western fast food giants such as McDonalds

Selected by McDonalds and its contractors in 1960s, this breed of potatoes is large in size, easy to plant, and has high yields, low oil absorption, thin skin, and long storability, making them easy to transport and perfect to be used in mass production (Bethke 12). Over the next decades, the Russet Burbank us further perfected then planted in fields across the United States and Canada to supply the ever-increasing consumer demand. In 1930, only 4% of all potatoes planted in the United States are Russet Burbanks; by 2014, this number is 40%. Over 80% of French fries on the market in the United States are made from this single species.

In many ways, this marked the true beginning of the American “French fries” as we know it – thinly sliced potato strips deep fried in corn or other forms of vegetable oils, seasoned with salt, then served with ketchup. More often than not, they come preprocessed, precooked, and frozen in a nice package to enable restaurant owners and homemakers alike to easily serve this greasy but delicious dish to eager customers and kids.

International

As we’ve seen from history, potatoes that are clones of each other are extremely susceptible to diseases and pests – the Irish potato famine being the most dramatic and unfortunate example. While the lack of French fries is unlikely to decimate the population of an entire country, the biological effects of a monoculture, the cultivation of a single crop on a massive scale cannot be ignored.

The Russet Burbank has never been truly immune to late blight, the Colorado potato beetle, or any of the other pests that threatens all breeds of potatoes. Instead, farmers rely on the application of extremely powerful and poisonous pesticides and artificial fertilisers to ensure the quality and profitability of their potatoes. These chemicals have long lasting effects on the soil, ground water and rivers, as well as the farmers themselves and their families. Large agribusiness corporations, such as Monsanto, has proposed genetic engineering as an alternative to the application of pesticides – in 1995, Monsanto introduced the NewLeaf potato, which releases bt-toxin that kills off bacteria that causes the late blight, despite strong consumer