) In the 1950s, the Spanish went to South America to look for gold. There, they found
people eating potatoes. The people of Peru in South America had been eating potatoes for
7000 years! The Spaniards brought the potato back to Europe with them. But people in
Europe did not like this strange vegetable. Some people thought that if you ate potatoes,
your skin would look like the skin of a potato. Other people could not believe that you ate
the underground part of the plant, so they ate the leaves instead. This made them sick
because there is poison in the leaves. Others grew potatoes for their flowers. At one time in
France, potato flowers were one of the most expensive flowers. Marie Antoinette, the wife
of King Louis XV, wore potato flowers on her hair.