Landscape shaped by the potato

PEOPLE who grow potatoes are proudly taking note these days as strong stalks signal a healthy crop of "earlies’’.

But our love affair with the modest spud is losing some of its passion.

In what some might regard as a sort of national betrayal of what was once a staple food of generations, the consumption of potatoes in Ireland has dropped by 25% in the last decade, according to the latest surveys.