Yes. Potatoes do store. BUT they have to be stored carefully and properly to last. They need cool, dark, and air circulation. That means, at this scale, big facilities to do that. IMAGINE the cost.
They are set up to produce them, not store them.
You can't just dump a mountain of potatoes someplace and have them be fit for humans later. It would just be a rat farm.
You are absolutely right. But it is not practical.
Well not now.
HALF of US food production wasn't going to your kitchen. It was going to the place you eat - OUT of your home. And you aren't going there, right now.
But your point is good.
"Potatoes will store for months in a very cold but not freezing environment, provided that they have been cured first. Cure potatoes in a moderate temperature and dry conditions for 1-2 weeks. Then move them into your root cellar."
My inlaws have a farm with a large potato cellar, but I suppose once it filled up and it wasn't moving. That would be a problem!
Are potatoes harvested year round or is there a season?
Farms in my area have been banding together in an effort to sell more produce direct to consumers to help with this. Maybe I will go buy some this weekend to help
Can't potatoes be stored for a relatively long time? Store them until distribution is found. Once restaurants are cleared to reopen demand will spike
Yes. Potatoes do store. BUT they have to be stored carefully and properly to last. They need cool, dark, and air circulation. That means, at this scale, big facilities to do that. IMAGINE the cost.
They are set up to produce them, not store them.
You can't just dump a mountain of potatoes someplace and have them be fit for humans later. It would just be a rat farm.
You are absolutely right. But it is not practical.
Well not now.
HALF of US food production wasn't going to your kitchen. It was going to the place you eat - OUT of your home. And you aren't going there, right now.
But your point is good.
"Potatoes will store for months in a very cold but not freezing environment, provided that they have been cured first. Cure potatoes in a moderate temperature and dry conditions for 1-2 weeks. Then move them into your root cellar."
And:
"https://savethefood.com/storage?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6K27rWQ6QIVB1YMCh1Mpg8jEAAYASAAEgIRN_D_BwE"
More detail:
https://savethefood.com/storage?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6K27rWQ6QIVB1YMCh1Mpg8jEAAYASAAEgIRN_D_BwE
My inlaws have a farm with a large potato cellar, but I suppose once it filled up and it wasn't moving. That would be a problem!
Are potatoes harvested year round or is there a season?
Farms in my area have been banding together in an effort to sell more produce direct to consumers to help with this. Maybe I will go buy some this weekend to help