An American in Lima

The slow-motion collapse of the U.S. economy is harming consumers and businesses across the country – well, almost every business that is. One industry is enjoying big sales gains thanks to the stress experienced by ordinary working people. North American sales of “savory snacks” (potato chips, Cheetos, etc.) by Frito-Lay are up 9% for the third qurater, reports [...]

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Here’s a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians’ hearts: potatoes. Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes  Extreme weather shifts caused by global warming are interrupting millenia-old agricultural cyles in the high Andes, reports Barclay for the Miami Herald. That turmoil is having a devastating effect on crops [...]

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The Texas cowbow-turned-El Chalan, APEC Leaders’ Summit, Nov. 23, 2008; photo c. Jorge Vera It was 4 p.m. on the final day of the APEC Summit, and most of the leaders and the journalists had left the Minstry of Defense building where the summit had been held. El Fotógrafo and I were huddled in a cubicle [...]

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Delicious purple Peruvian potatoes Potatoes are a big deal in Peru. The Peruvan Andes were the birthplace of the potato, and today Peruvian farmers cultivate more than 3,000 native varieties of them — potatoes with names like Ica Huila and Purple Viking and Wilja. The United Nations has declared 2008 “the International Year of the Potato,” and this [...]

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