Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis

Sharp hikes in the prices of staples like wheat and rice are sending shockwaves around the world and convincing governments to rediscover the virtues of the potato, Reuters reports. Spuds are nutritious, will grow just about anywhere, and they yield up to four times more food per acre than other staples. Peruvians, faced with soaring wheat prices, have been switching to potato bread.

"We have to change people's eating habits," said Peru's minister of agriculture. "People got addicted to wheat when it was cheap." (More potato stories.)