I come from a island that once had the largest empire in history. This island now is a strange yet charming place which I assume anyone who took time to watch the opening or closing ceremonies at the Olympics got a taste of. Needless to say, Britain is a country that is difficult for anyone to understand who does not have British family or has not lived with a British person, or had British friends. Staples of our country are booze, very fatty food, black taxis, double decker buses, telling people to mind the gap...... which (should be blatantly obvious if one has a brain). Our nationals past times consist of, getting drunk, dressing up, getting naked, complaining about the weather, uncensored television ,being the loudest fans at an international sporting events( and being loud in general), coming up with good words or puns, and food comas . Sometimes, all these national past times can be exhibited within the course of an hour. Our staple foods are, anything wrapped in pastry, gravy, large quantities of meat, cheap and cheerful chocolate and potato's. However the potato is not just as staple food in Britain, it has a far greater meaning.
Britain has a very special relationship with the potato in it's diet. It not only keeps 95% of the population alive, and clogs the arteries of about 40% of the population and acts as a sleeping medication on sundays for 80% of the population who over indulge on them at Sunday Roasts. Britons find comfort from the potato, and if having some potato's can't solve it. Then the chance are nothing can.Other than acting as a population regulator, strain on the NHS (National Health Service), and a natural sleeping medication on sundays, the potato has worked its way into popular culture.
Britain is famous for its comedy and since the 1980's the potato made its way onto the televisions of Britain and managed to induce the population into fits of laughter. In the 90's the potato started to be introduced as topics on TV quiz shows which teams would have to answer questions about. In the TV series "Shooting Stars", Ulrika Johnsson picks spuds(potatoes) as her topic for a quiz team in which Matt Lucas was forced to sing a song about a baked potato the spot, which led the audience to hohowling with laughter. TV shows in the 90's would often have episodes in which their were over the top potato crisis, and the potato even worked its way to being featured into a TV show, " The sex lives of the potato men."
In the 2000's/2010's the potato is still as prominent as ever in British culture, always being joked about or something obscure happening in regards to a potato or lots of them. The potato has now even become a catch phrase, first appearing on Celebrity Juice( game show) in which the host, Keith Lemon proceeds to blurt out the word, "POTATO!" in a variety of different accents at random intervals throughout the show. This has since gone national. The BBC introduced a children's TV show called " Small Potatoes", in which the them tune is a bunch of potatoes singing about small potatoes and then continues to show potatoes with children's voices talking about various topics before singing about such topics including, imagination, diversity, acceptance, dreams and love. Apparently, the BBC feels the only way to get the newest generation of Britons to be more globally minded is by having a bunch of potatoes singing to them about a variety of what are quite important topics, and kindly remindins them at the end of it that "we are all potatoes."
Personally, I'm not quite sure how I feel about my children being told they are a starchy object that can be cooked in various ways, clog arteries if they are covered in oil, have limited IQ, starved the Irish in the 1800's and are responsible for the high Irish population on the east coast on the United States.
I suppose its a good effort, to try make a less racist Britain but I'm not sure if the French would do the same. I suppose if the French were to use a food to make a more globally minded generation it would probably be snails or creme brulee's..... but I don't think either of those are as prominent in French popular culture as the potato is in Britain's.
Needless to say, Britain has a very special relationship with the potato, it's a cherished one and one that I think all Britons can agree on. The potato does not discriminate, it is as much Scottish as it is English, Welsh or Northern Irish. Is the potato what makes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island? In order to keep the country together will we have to change the national anthem to God Save the Potato as the UK is now experiencing a potato shortage? To be honest, who knows the fact of the matter is the potato is a part of British culture now and is becoming more permanent fixture of British society.
I'm not quite sure what it is about Britain that has lead it to have the relationship it does with the potato, maybe its the plane, oddly shaped look of it, maybe its the word itself...... because.....well it is quite a fun word to say.... has a nice ring to it and all...... or is it something else.
Well, there you have it probably the most scholarly explanation of Britain's relations with the potato. The next level of Britain's relationship with the potato is yet to be determined. It is safe to say the potato and the importance of potatoes in Britain is now added to our list of national past times.
