Why China Is Obsessed With Promoting Potatoes (HBO)
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- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2024
- China has a real problem: It has to feed 20 percent of the world’s population with just 10 percent of the world’s arable land. And the government recently announced farming practices are too intensive to be sustainable, all while demand for food grows more quickly than supply.
Last year, China decided on a bold solution: to transform the potato into one of its staple foods.
“Potatoes, they are easy to grow. They grow in bad soils. The water requirements are low. You don’t need irrigation necessarily, so it’s cheap,” Minzu University of China ethnoecologist Karlis Rokpelnis said in Beijing. “It creates a kind of farming where you don’t have to be on the land as much.”
In a country famous for its rice consumption, however, convincing people to love the spud requires some persuasion - a task that a loyal Communist party member known as “Sister Potato” has taken upon herself.
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In a country famous for its rice consumption, however, convincing people to love the spud requires some persuasion - a task that a loyal Communist party member known as “Sister Potato” has taken upon herself.
Watch more Isobel Yeung on VICE - bit.ly/2yp3Rk2
VICE News who could i talk to about offering china the license to grow canadian potatoe? I know someone asked me if i wanted to do a potatoe company in thailand but thailand is too hot for potatoes all year round, where china makes abit of sense
lol good luck with potatoes. maybe they were watching matt damon the martian lol lol
VICE News wait.... if potatoes grow in pad soil, won't the potatoes absorb all the toxins in the soil that are presumably in the soil? I don't know if this is a weird question to ask, I was just under the assumption that plants absorb whatever nutrients and toxins that are in the soil in order to grow
To be fair as a westerner I eat rich most of the time. Mash or chips taste better but I'm pretty sure rice is better for your health.
Corded Hornet If you wanted to plan potatoes this year in China, it might work. I predict the fall armyworm and locust are going to destroy China agricultural production. If your potatoes can resist them, plant them in northwestern or northeastern China.
"Buy first, then try" Everyone turning their back
old fat grandmas looking for a deal.
That grandma needs someone like me. A social media marketing consultant to be able to promote her products
Yeah, she could've had a little candy dish out, full of potato products, mmm.... Potatoes....
Chinese ladies ALWAYS look for free things at the market, no surprise here. I mean 30 cents really isn't that expensive either, gosh they're such penny pinchers!
shes not good at bussiness
"i love potatoes but i also love money" lmao same
Good communist.
Lhgtjveyn
chibiyaten15 #thuglife
"communist" ... shit china is more capitalist than anything lol
China has more pure capitalism than the west. It just gets pushed in certain directions by the state.
The looks on everyone’s face while they watch her sing about potatoes 😂
dont be racist
what’s racist?
racist aside
all of them look so dead inside
@@neoanderson7492 Racist? He was just laughing at the faces they made due to how silly the song was.
@@neoanderson7492 you spelled Neo Nazi wrong.
"I love potato, but I also love money."
That's wall-worthy.
Who doesn't love money?
S Smart in theory communists
shouldn’t like money, but in practice, here it’s the example
HAAHH!!! I know right! It's gonna be leaving a mark in my mind for a while, I reckon!!!
I am the potato, the potato is me :)
This is the weirdest comment ever. I love potato but I also love money like what??
Vice is just a potatoist propaganda outlet now. Unsubbbed.
Herrsnare12345 Underrated shit right here boys
Herrsnare12345 waaay to many social potato warriors to be a crediable outlet :P
Definitely in the pocket of big potato
Mr. Potato Head is code sign of President George Bush.
Haha
"Buy first, then try" - everyone walks away
2:18
It's only 30 cents for one...
Wages are different in China so it would be like someone in the US paying $1.50.
do you still think China's still poor? lol
If u think Chinese are rich now LOL u need to do more research
China: *becomes reliant on the potato*
Ireland: 👀
Can help weightloss
Ireland: Wait ive ssen this one its a classic.
@Angelo River well it was England that made them only grow potatoes, because they could grow a lot, but then a fungus killed off all the potatoes, England had enough wheat to feed the Irish, but refused.
Wer arrr dem pataaaaates
Hey man, it's happened to China before. They put all their eggs in 1 basket and it fails and TENS OF MILLIONS DIE
@@pmathewizard lmaoooo
"I am the potato. The potato is me."
Just cats if Ireland was communist
I lost my appetite.
Sounds like a viral meme to me! AHHAH!!
the most hilarious vice moment
Cue Eric Andre
Ah yes Massachusetts an universally accepted unit of land.
There's a slight but virtually zero chance that a Massachusetts is the universal measurement of surface area.
I'm surprised they didn't measure it in football fields
@@MK_ULTRA420 massatwoshits needs more love
Oh yeah yeah
An universally :/
make rice out of potatoes = problem solved
Hannibal Barca not a bad idea
world hunger solwed
***** make in the shape of rice
***** oh
they actually do that already. Making rice grains from potato starch and coating with a thin layer of plastic to keep the shape. Then it's sold as real rice. Google 'china fake rice'.
"I am The Potato, and The Potato is Me."- Sister Potato
dude
but I also love money...chairman Mao is rolling in his grave
The Chinese government is basically trying to get their people to diversify their crops and adapt a new, maybe additional staple food. I say it's a good idea.
There going for what's cheap and easy to do, so they can profit.
It will not work except if they force them.
And I hope it doesn't, rice is part of their culture, I would hate to see it replaced by potatoes.
@@jimbopaw I think at least they will have both.Also better pray the gov do not made the potato as "western propaganda".
Donald Kasper lol. high school failed u.
@ And the corn farmers are forced to grow corn because of the economic stranglehold of the big processing companies.
Just introduce them to waffle fries. Problem solved.
Curly fries are better.
The Chinese aren't very adventurous, which is why they need to become immersed in the world of taters! I'm on the potato diet and it wasn't until I started trying different recipes that I realized how diverse potatoes are: jojo's/wedges, hashbrowns, hasselback, funeral, duchess, anna, wrinkly, bengal, lyonnaise, latkes/rosti/boxty, knish, pattie, pickert, pommes noisette, fondant, croquettes, tater tots, spudnut, griddle scone, scalloped potatoes, potato skins, potato rings, potato roses, potato casserole, potato salad, mashed potatoes, patatas bravas, batata vada, au gratin, poutine, tartiflette, moussaka, pierogies, colcannon/champ/rumbledethumps, bubble & squeak, coddle, crocchè, aloo gobi, dabeli, far far, samosa, muthawama/skordalia, chapalele, chuño, gnocchi, spanish omelette, and halal snack pack.
I've never been more happy to be on a diet!! 😂
@@YourMajesty143 Those are some formidable potatoes. And 'toes.
Fries of all kinds exist in China but there's no way you can get them to eat a lot of them coz deep fried stuff are very unhealthy and Chinese know it.
@@reir8047 Get an air fryer. :p
Prospects: "Can I try one?"
Vender: "Buy one first and try one"
Prospects: walk away
My mind was blown away at 0:30 how a man can possibly fit that much rice on a pair of sticks. I can barely eat one grain of rice at a time......
It's a different kind of rice. Unlike rice produced in India or Mexico, east Asian rice is sticky. Very easy to pick up with chop sticks.
This man has been practiced eating rice his entire life, of course he is skilled.
Sticky rice
He's got kung fu training, he can even swat flies with those chopsticks.
Just like Miyamoto Musashi
no one:
sister potato: “i am the potato, the potato is me.” 🥔
"Buy first, then try" Customers scatter.
I understand beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and that different cultures appreciate different things, but when "Sister Potato" started singing 0:41 I could not stop laughing.
China is trash there is no beauty. It’s a people and culture held captive forced to act robotic.
I feel sad for you. Watch too much CNN making you dumb... and robotic.
it's chinese opera singing, it just sounds like this in general lmao
@@hippocreation What does cnn have to do with anything 😭😭
Dude, I was crying 🤣
The way she sings the potato song reminds me of the minions singing the banana song.
0:44 ... the sound I make when stepping on a Lego brick with a bare foot
of course a latvian guy is one of china's resident potato experts lol lol
I don't understand
@@michaelcerda5514 it's because Latvia in Chinese means potato
Ironically, as an American who loves Asian cuisine, I learned that potato starch is always superior to corn starch for thickening sauces and gravies; it is a bigger starch molecule, so it reflects the light better, making the food more appetizing.
Potatoes... Good Products, detoxifying, good looking and delicious - my first thought: “Good Looking” - China must really want people to eat potatoes or date them or both
So date a potato and eat them on your wedding day then! AHAHHA!
This happened in france as well. The french monarch at the time had a hard time convincing people to eat potatoes, but after the revolution what we consider to be a precursor french fries were created and people started eating potatoes.
You can easily love potato and money at same time. Potatoes are cheap and filling.
RElouhila 😍😂😌🌹🍀🌷🌾🌿🍒😶🍇🔧🔨🔑💅💼
High in calories
@@vatomalo68 carb's not calories.
I tend to lose weight on them easily but damn.. grow tire of them tho lol.. Prefer beans and potatoes, flour hand made tortillas, yum. I'm thankful my mom raised us on a poor diet, none of our fam has health /women issues. My mom is really old, no medicines or health problems, and the doctors are liek WOW, you first person without any drug issues lol, I hope to make it as well, with no medicines. Prefer my beans , high in protein/energy carbs/, no fat, easily survive, taste awesome if you cook them right.
Potatoes you can lose weight easily but you need to eat them properly tho and when you do, its not fun lol. Its like eating Vegges, if you enjoy vegge, do the veg route.
"cheap"
But dude.. We talk about Asia here. It is so rare.
Potato need a cold region to grow. And only few regions in Asia that can grow potato. Plus, rice & wheat culture is already rooted in Asia. From Japan to Arabia
Eastern part of Asia have rice culture, Western part of Asia have wheat culture.
Potato is not that cheap in Asia. Rice is much cheaper. Or if we talk about west Asia, grain is much cheaper.
French fries and mashed potato in Asia are also even like.. a snack. Not as a main dish.
I love potatoes but I like to buy my food in bulk.
I can get a huge bag of rice and it won;t spoil for two years.
On the other hand potatoes rot really fast in my home. I don't know if it's because its a bit humid.
If I could buy a ton of potatoes and have them stay good for years I wouldn't mind to switch..
That's what I love about rice and pasta, you don't need a fridge or electricity to keep a supply of it with absolutely no worried about it spoiling.
That’s a very good point.
Regardless of the topic, Izzy Yeung makes everything interesting!
it's Izzy, short for Isobel
thanks mang...those darn typos!
She is one fine woman
So cute
If people think it is odd that potato advocacy is a thing then I’d say that the odd thing is that it isn’t more common. Potatoes could save the world.
0:41: One time I was in a Mcdonalds drive thru and picked up my order and drove off. I noticed that they gave me a large order of fries by accident. This is how I felt.
That potato-song was like something straight out of Maoist China lmao
That's just traditional Chinese
the reporter is so pretty
You noticed !!
And none of those appendages that smother a guy !!
But why is there potatoes around my anus?!
I'd let her have my potato.
She must be half Asian.
well sweet potato is popular here, just not regular potato
and taro/dallo
Data Integration Thought Entity Humanoid Interface root vegetables are very hardy AND nutritious. Idk why the don't grow yams, squash, turnips etc.
Because healthy crops are bad. Just eat some white rice which is mostly just sugars without any real nutrition, yum.
Milton Waddams Asians eat a wide variety of vegetables and fruits unlike westerners which is why they stay fit despite consuming rice. Most rice variety these days are enriched with vitamins.
@@fauxmanchu8094 Enriched rice may be popular in the West, but the idea of adding B vitamins lost during processing to food has not really caught on in China; people just shell grains into white rice and sell them.
"Getting people to love the spud will require a persuasion campaign of epic proportions."
"♫♪ POTATOES! ♫♪"
XD
2:20 that mass leave 😂
They need to make them part of free school lunches so they kids grow up with them
Bruh im telling this to the CCP
Reduce meat consumption (and then dairy). There's your solution. It's obvious. And drop the snobbery around "this food is for poor people" etc
What could possibly go wrong.
"I love potatoes but I also love money!"
A true communist.
Enters the capitalist
@DB Cooper I know I meant it sarcastically lol
@DB Cooper to communists, it's never "real" communism
Ask a 1st Nations Tribal member: “what do you prefer, rice or potato?”
Tribal member: “potato, rice is a side dish.” 😆😆
5:50
This woman disagrees, prefers rice over potatos because potatos are a side dish.
@@alecnolastname4362 yeah, that's the point of the comment
Rice don't have taste.
Potato have somekind of taste.
Potato even though it is a main dish, because it has taste, potato being used as side dish in the Asia. From Japan to Arab. From Mongolia to Indonesia.
I also like it that way. I eat rice with "potato sambal" dish or we call it as "sambal goreng" in Indonesia.
China if you want your people to eat more potatoes you better hire a better singer.
Spartan Omega6 the targeted audiences are old people. they don't give a shit
don't talk shit about potato sister
I dont see u singing the potato song hater
Maybe one that doesn't look like a potato.
@Stock Name exactly
Really a multi-role vegetable. It can be used either as staple food as it can be used as a a condiment.
In fact Chinese cuisine (especially Northern) has many very imaginative recipes with potatoes.
All you need is oil, imagination and right spices.
Potato is straight up carb. Can’t believe she tried to sell it as a weight lose alternative
Wrong, the potatoes actually have surprisingly good amount of vitamin C, potassium, copper (mainly in the skin, especially the russet type), and fiber (also mainly in the skin). It is also gluten-free. Eating potatoes is good for you as long as you don't add big chucks of butter to it, deep fry it for too long, or if you have potato allergy. Step aside Potato-Lady! I should be the one to market potatoes. ;)
@@eriksonyw i believe everything you said, but still its not a weight lose food. Pickles/ nuts/ fish are.
@@Taurineg potato is quite good in terms of losing weight, is a good source of carbohydrates
Potato has high satiety than bread and rice, also its rich of fiber, so u feel fuller for longer time n eat less
@@Taurineg uh yes it is.potatoes have high satiety than bread and rice, also its rich of fiber, so u feel fuller for longer time n eat less
Latvia says, hi.
Iz only drim.
Noah Nobody why does the potato experts name sounds Latvian
@김하늘
cause he is Latvian :D
Plot twist: Sister Potato secretly hates potato.
2:18 Lady, *free samples* are the backbone of promoting a new product. Don't be so cheap!! 😒
You clearly never know Chinese culture. They want everything for free WITHOUT BUYING! They also bring extra containers and bags to pack A LOT food samples to take home. That's why Mrs. Potato refused to give them sample for free.
Greedy customers wanting a free sample, from a greedy businesswoman who just wants their money.
As a Chinese American many Chinese are actually very open to diversify their foods and eat food that seems “ foreign “
However . Ask Chinese ( or any other ethnicities really ) to switch their main diet to a different type of carbohydrates is very difficult.
The reason why people love their own culture food its because they been eating the same food they have when they are young . You love your food because your taste bud become stabilized after teenage years , unless they been eating potatos ever since they are kids , its hard to switch away from Rice because they been eating rice ever since they were kids . And is adapting to think “ rice tastes the best because thats how their taste buds developed.
Its like telling french to switch away from bread , telling Americans to not eat Cheese / burgers etc . Or telling Japanese to not eat seafood .
Our roomate is From Norway . He lives in America for over 20 years and is used to a fast food diet . Every week eventhough he loved the Chinese food we cook but he just feel the need to get burgers and pizza several times a week because us Chinese dont know how to make them from scratch he said he just feel the need to have American food . And cant get used to eating Chinese food all the time
Decently prepare Potatoes are definitely worth their price
Honestly Vice, this is your best reporter make sure she doesn't leave you!
0:55 WTF! That song sucks. Imagine being forced to listen to that!? "Fine, I'll eat the damned potatoes! Just make her stop!!!
Thank the Inca for potatoes.
Well said Sir... The Inka Empire deserve a credit for saving humanity...
You're right. Who knew that such an ancient crop originating from the Andes would become a staple of many nations.
Thanks for the potato and Machu Picchu
+david w
You're wrong about chickens . They were first domesticated in Asia.
David W, Actually, the chicken is from Vietnam. Vietnamese people were the first to domesticate chicken for human consumption.
I watch Vice news, only to see Isobel's smile.
My grandmother told me during WW2 if you don't have rice to eat, potatoes were the next best precious food. Though China wasn't so polluted back then.
Potatoes can make you loose weight.... Now that's new. 🤣
If not fried ...
Pillai, my dude xD. Potatoes are still carbo hydrates by the end of the day. In one or the other form you wont be able to lose weight if you eat a lot of potato. Carbo hydrates are the leading cause of obesity.
@@Guide4Ever Excess of everything is harmful.
@@shankaranpillai9664 What a pointless reply that was. Stating a common fact to backup your initial false standpoint.Your claim that only fried potatoes can be the cause of not losing weight (by consuming potatoes) is completely and utterly invalid. Carbohydrates of any kind are the leading reason of obesity (sugar, rice, potatoes - fried or non-fried etc.). It is pointless to say the vegetables in excess are harmful for example as very close to none if none eat vegetables to an excess. Why? Because they are clearly not as tempting as sugar, potatoes etc.
@@Guide4Ever Excess of everything is harmful .
Very good piece of reporting. Great rapport between the reporter and those interviewed. Hard to envision potatoes ever replacing rice as a major staple. I live in Hawaii, though a part of the United States; almost everyone here, no matter the ethnicity, eat rice! Rice has a better taste, texture, and is easier to cook.
1:45 Oh shi waddup its Sun Wu Kong .
4:52 my man literally did the opposite in what to do to get people to like the potato
Man, I could really go for a Potato right now.
Most of Europe as well was against the potato at first, but we grew to love it. Friedrich II. King of Prussia is even said to have tarveled across his land and show his people hw good potatoes are.
"Now scientists say that eating potatoes will help you lose weight". This is the exact opposite of what pretty much everyone in the West believes, where even looking at a carbohydrate will make you put on a kilo.
I thought Isobel was banned after candid filming in Xinjiang. Glad that she can make videos about China again.
Who goes to a concert about potatos?😂😂😂
@Stock Name free concert
Buy a ticket and listen if you like it😂
Why go to a concert full of white, hippie, west coast, liberals?
@@dreadpiraterobertsii4420 because they are white?
Definitely free concert
Those fair guests are looking at Sister Potato in the same way we would probably all look at someone singing about the glorious benefits of a tuber.
Authoritarian governments do have their plus points, and actually planning for feeding a growing population is one of them.
@Donald Kasper yeah but don't generalise.
@Donald Kasper still grows more potatoes than the US
thats an old argument , you surely didnt know whats the meaning for 'purchasing power'
0:46 why do i feel like this lady is singing about me 🤣
It would be interesting to see a comparison between what it takes to produce rice vs. potatoes. I’ve heard about some developments in rice production in China (super-rice?) where crops yield 15Xs more. But, if food shortage may be an issue then I guess potatoes make sense - guessing that they pack a bit more of a punch.
5:11 Stay in school kids, stay in school...
Also don't watch too much TV, or you'll become a real life couch-potato!
Communist countries when their staple grain cant feed their growing population: “Hmmm yes potato time”
China: Potato
Ireland: are we a joke to you?
* loyal member of the communist party * " I also love money"
???
CPC be revisionist af, they’re about as Marxist as Sweden. Which is to say that if their system is based on Marxist philosophy and economics, it has been changed and reformed so much that it’s not very recognizable. “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” is just Chinese capitalism
So a nationalistix etn- ohhhh
lol 4:56 the English captions xD
we need a more sustainable way of farming and agriculture. the rate we are going we are sure to head for a world food crisis where foods will be much more valuable than gold.
Very good journalism. Keep up the good work.
"Sister Potato"? LMAO
Americans love steamed potatoes; my friend/old-roommate used to microwave potatoes every morning and then cut them open, instant steamed potato.
Love tatertots; Potatoes are awesome!!!
Eat'em up😋😊🥔
(I'm American by the way)
china: *obseessed with potatoes*
*belarus liked that*
I used to live in China and I can confirm this. The main staple foods are rice and wheat. Potatoes are rarely eaten and then only as a side dish. When I cooked Western food with potatoes for my Chinese friends they would ask me if I could serve staple foods with the meal.
She is promoting potato that much, she is turning into one.
how did this lady singing "Potato" not become a meme trend.
Its not too late fellas. Somebody jump on this
MrBigT you do it
0:42😬 0:54 my face ... My face again ...0:58 why did youtube recommend this to me ? ....
The Chinese communist party : a feared authoritarian government system
Also a Chinese communist party member: i am the potato and the potato is me
1:41
Here's a simple way: Start a religion centered around Potatoes, religion is always the best marketing strategy ;)
Said the phophet tearing through the known world
"she may have her eye on the potato bread" i see what u did there Vice.
🤣🤣🤣John McDougall would be proud!!!
Theres nothing actually on the CCP encouraging the consumption on potatoes. It sounds like your guy just found someone singing about potatoes and tried to make a news headline out of it while China was a big hit on the news sites.
Good idea tho. More people should be eating potatoes. They legitimately sound like the future.
that reporter is really pretty
Who knew you could sing so passionately about potatoes? XD
How can you not like potatoes with all you can do with them.
Requires a minimum 3 year rotation for the fields here in Michigan. Also center pivot irrigation intensive.
woah! that singing to English ears 😵
Nah ur music taste sucks
@Stock Name If I had a dog, he wouldn't like her singing either.
@Stock Name Every Chinese person has heard Western music before. They can listen to most Western songs.
I like to mix 4 potatoes Earthy (soily tasting ones) with creamy, Bland and Old spuds, to diversify the tastes, with Lurpak butter.
Just listen to the government and EVERYTHING will be FINE! *roll eyes
But the government is right in this case. Potatoes require less resources to produce, like water, and are more nutritious than rice. So, more sustainable.
Way more filling, too. And, in my opinion, more flexible in cooking (although maybe not in dishes the chinese are familiar with)
Anonymous Hacker Yes all American
+Anonymous Hacker I'd bet my bottom dollar. "Government = baaad! Corporations = gooood!! Baaaaaa!" Governments are just groups of people. Bad governments are bad, good governments are good.
Anonymous Hacker Majority of the world's governments are horrible so....
How about replacing funerals with cannibal feasts?
wtf meat is totally overrated, plus it takes a ton of money, energy, and food to raise livestock, and they produce a lot of methane pollution
Meat taste better than potato's
Methane is least of the problem when producing meat. Where do you think Ecoli comes from? It is problematic for people who don't even eat meat or rarely eat meat. Not to forget the cows shit a ton of waste that has to go somewhere.
Yeah meat is pretty gross I'm just about off it. I was never crazy about red meat since I was a kid I never liked the texture. Anymore it's the smell I can't stand.
For me the red meat gets stuck in my teeth faster than any other food, and I am a hygiene person.
1 million recipes for rice
hat off to Karlis who can still concentrate and talk about potato in front of those beautiful eyes
Oh god, that reporter is an angel
The food issue led to legalization of many different wild animal meats being sold in wet markets...
Go Team Spud, Go!!!
Relying on one major crop is a dangerous idea. I hope the government has the foresight to see this.