Swiss stamp honors the potato year


Switzerland has issued a postage stamp to commemorate 2008, the International Year of the Potato.

Available from 26 February 2008, the 85 cent stamp will remain available until 31 March. The 28 x 33 mm stamp is featured on a double-page spread in the January issue of Swisspost’s “Focus on Stamps; the Collector’s Magazine” (http://www.swisspost.ch/en/ph-lupe-2008-01.pdf). The article notes that “it is not just in Switzerland that the potato ensures people have a sustaining, varied diet. It is planted all over the world. At the global level, the potato is one of the most-planted foods … thus contributing to ensuring food security and poverty reduction worldwide. To pay tribute to the potato’s key role, the UN General Assembly has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato, so Swiss Post is issuing a stamp in its honor.”

Zurich was the first destination for the CIP exhibition “The Odyssey of the Potato,” which will tour Europe in 2008, supported by the Peru Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs.

The Swisspost article tells us that potatoes came to Switzerland by a circuitous route. In 1590, Papal Swiss Guards brought the miraculous plant from Rome to Glarus, and soon the potato had become established and a national staple, as embodied in traditional Swiss dishes such as “Gschwellti” (potatoes boiled in their jackets) and “Rösti” (hash browns), to name but a few. Nowadays, more than 30 different varieties of potato are planted on about 12 000 ha in Switzerland, and old varieties with coloured flesh and strange shapes are currently experiencing a revival in popularity. Potatoes are a hit, whether as a main dish, salad, snack or even dessert, and are endlessly versatile.