[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.94,0:00:05.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Baked or fried,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.09,0:00:08.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,boiled or roasted,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as chips or fries.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At some point in your life,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you've probably eaten a potato.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Delicious, for sure,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the fact is potatoes have played a\Nmuch more significant role in our history
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than just that of the dietary staple\Nwe have come to know and love today.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without the potato,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our modern civilization \Nmight not exist at all.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,8,000 years ago in South America,\Nhigh atop the Andes,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ancient Peruvians were the first\Nto cultivate the potato.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Containing high levels of proteins\Nand carbohydrates,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as essential fats, vitamins\Nand minerals,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,potatoes were the perfect food source\Nto fuel a large Incan working class
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as they built and farmed \Ntheir terraced fields,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mined the Rocky Mountains,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and created the sophisticated civilization\Nof the great Incan Empire.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But considering how vital they were\Nto the Incan people,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Spanish sailors \Nreturning from the Andes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first brought potatoes to Europe,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the spuds were duds.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Europeans simply didn't want to eat
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what they considered dull and tasteless\Noddities from a strange new land.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Too closely related to the deadly\Nnightshade plant, Belladonna, for comfort.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So instead of consuming them,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they used potatoes \Nas decorative garden plants.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More than 200 years would pass\Nbefore the potato caught on
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a major food source throughout Europe,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,though even then,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was predominantly eaten \Nby the lower classes.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, beginning around 1750,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and thanks at least in part
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the wide availability\Nof inexpensive and nutritious potatoes,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,European peasants \Nwith greater food security
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no longer found themselves
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the mercy of the regularly \Noccurring grain famines of the time,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so their populations steadily grew.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a result, the British, Dutch\Nand German Empires
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rose on the backs of the growing groups\Nof farmers, laborers, and soldiers,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thus lifting the West to its place\Nof world dominion.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, not all European countries\Nsprouted empires.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After the Irish adopted the potato,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their population dramatically increased,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as did their dependence on the tuber\Nas a major food staple.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then disaster struck.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From 1845 to 1852,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,potato blight disease ravaged \Nthe majority of Ireland's potato crop,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leading to the Irish Potato Famine,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of the deadliest famines\Nin world history.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over a million Irish citizens \Nstarved to death,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and 2 million more \Nleft their homes behind.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But of course, this wasn't the end\Nfor the potato.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The crop eventually recovered,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Europe's population,\Nespecially the working classes,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,continued to increase.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aided by the influx of Irish migrants,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Europe now had a large, sustainable,\Nand well-fed population
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were capable of manning\Nthe emerging factories
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would bring about our modern world\Nvia the Industrial Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's almost impossible to imagine\Na world without the potato.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would the Industrial Revolution \Never have happened?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would World War II have been lost\Nby the Allies
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without this easy-to-grow crop\Nthat fed the Allied troops?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would it even have started?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you think about it like this,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many major milestones in world history\Ncan all be at least partially contributed
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the simple spud \Nfrom the Peruvian hilltops