History through the eyes of the potato - Leo Bear-McGuinness

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Matej Divjak

Baked or fried,

Pečen ali ocvrt,

boiled or roasted,

kuhan ali na žaru,

as chips or fries.

kot čips ali pomfri.

At some point in your life, you've probably eaten a potato.

Na neki točki v življenju si najbrž pojedel krompir.

Delicious, for sure,

Okusen je, seveda,

but the fact is potatoes have played a much more significant role in our history

a dejstvo je, da je imel krompir v naši zgodovini veliko pomembnejšo vlogo

than just that of the dietary staple we have come to know and love today.

kot samo to, da je osnovno živilo, kot ga poznamo in imamo radi danes.

Without the potato,

Brez krompirja,

our modern civilization might not exist at all.

naša moderna civilizacija morda sploh ne bi obstajala.

8,000 years ago in South America, high atop the Andes,

Pred 8.000 leti v Južni Ameriki, visoko v Andih,

ancient Peruvians were the first to cultivate the potato.

so bili starodavni Perujci prvi, ki so vzgojili krompir.

Containing high levels of proteins and carbohydrates,

Vsebuje visoke vrednosti proteinov in ogljikovih hidratov,

as well as essential fats, vitamins and minerals,

kot tudi esencialne maščobe, vitamine in minerale,

potatoes were the perfect food source to fuel a large Incan working class

zato je bil krompir idealno živilo za veliki Inkovski delavski razred,

as they built and farmed their terraced fields,

ko so gradili in kmetovali na terasastih poljih,

mined the Rocky Mountains,

iskali rudo v Skalnem gorovju

and created the sophisticated civilization of the great Incan Empire.

in ustvarili prefinjeno civilizacijo velikega Inkovskega Imperija.

But considering how vital they were to the Incan people,

A glede na to, kako pomemben je bil za Inke,

when Spanish sailors returning from the Andes

ko so se španski mornarji vrnili iz Andov

first brought potatoes to Europe,

in prvi prinesli krompir v Evropo,

the spuds were duds.

jih ni maral nihče.

Europeans simply didn't want to eat

Evropejci niso hoteli jesti nečesa,

what they considered dull and tasteless oddities from a strange new land,

kar se jim je zdelo pusto in brezokusno čudaštvo iz nove dežele,

too closely related to the deadly nightshade plant belladonna for comfort.

ki je bil za povrh veliko preblizu smrtni Volčji češnji iz družine Razhudnikovk.

So instead of consuming them,

Namesto da bi jih jedli,

they used potatoes as decorative garden plants.

so jih uporabljali kot dekorativne rastline.

More than 200 years would pass before the potato caught on

Več kot 200 let je minilo, preden se je krompir uveljavil

as a major food source throughout Europe,

kot glavni prehrambni vir v Evropi,

though even then,

a celo takrat

it was predominantly eaten by the lower classes.

so ga jedli predvsem nižji sloji.

However, beginning around 1750,

A okrog leta 1750,

and thanks at least in part

in vsaj delno zahvaljajujoč

to the wide availability of inexpensive and nutritious potatoes,

veliki dostopnosti poceni in hranljivega krompirja,

European peasants with greater food security

se evropski kmetje zaradi večje brezskrbnosti glede hrane

no longer found themselves

niso več znašli

at the mercy of the regularly occurring grain famines of the time,

prepuščeni na milost in nemilost rednim lakotam tistega časa zaradi žit,

and so their populations steadily grew.

zato je njihova populacija redno rasla.

As a result, the British, Dutch and German Empires

Zato so Britanski, Nizozemski in Nemški imperiji

rose on the backs of the growing groups of farmers, laborers, and soldiers,

vstali na hrbtih rastoče skupine kmetov, delavcev in vojakov

thus lifting the West to its place of world dominion.

in dvignili Zahod na mesto svetovne prevlade.

However, not all European countries sprouted empires.

A vse evropske dežele niso zrasle v imperije.

After the Irish adopted the potato,

Ko so Irci prevzeli krompir,

their population dramatically increased,

se je njihova populacija dramatično povečala

as did their dependence on the tuber as a major food staple.

kot se je tudi njihovo zanašanje na te gomolje kot glavni vir hrane.

But then disaster struck.

A potem je udarila katastrofa.

From 1845 to 1852,

Od leta 1845 do 1852

potato blight disease ravaged the majority of Ireland's potato crop,

je krompirjeva plesen uničila večino pridelka,

leading to the Irish Potato Famine,

kar je vodilo v Irsko krompirjevo lakoto,

one of the deadliest famines in world history.

eno najbolj smrtonosnih lakot v svetovni zgodovini.

Over a million Irish citizens starved to death,

Več kot milijon Ircev je umrlo od lakote

and 2 million more left their homes behind.

in 2 milijona se jih je izselilo.

But of course, this wasn't the end for the potato.

A to seveda ni pomenilo konec krompirja.

The crop eventually recovered,

Sčasoma si je opomogel

and Europe's population, especially the working classes,

in evropska populacija, predvsem delavski razred,

continued to increase.

se je še naprej povečevala.

Aided by the influx of Irish migrants,

Po zaslugi vala irskih migrantov

Europe now had a large, sustainable, and well-fed population

je imela Evropa veliko, trajnostno, dobro prehranjeno populacijo,

who were capable of manning the emerging factories

ki je lahko delala v nastajajočih tovarnah,

that would bring about our modern world via the Industrial Revolution.

ki so ustvarile naš sodobni svet z industrijsko revolucijo.

So it's almost impossible to imagine a world without the potato.

Tako si je praktično nemogoče predstavljati svet brez krompirja.

Would the Industrial Revolution ever have happened?

Bi se industrijska revolucija kdaj zgodila?

Would World War II have been lost by the Allies

Bi zavezniki izgubili drugo svetovno vojno

without this easy-to-grow crop that fed the Allied troops?

brez enostavno rastočega živila, ki je prehranilo vojake?

Would it even have started?

Bi se sploh začela?

When you think about it like this,

Ko razmišljaš na tak način,

many major milestones in world history can all be at least partially attributed

lahko kar nekaj velikih mejnikov v zgodovini vsaj deloma pripišemo

to the simple spud from the Peruvian hilltops.

preprostemu gomolju iz perujskih vrhov.