Global warming is causing difficulties for the farmers who grow the potatoes and who produce the best French fries, an expert warns. The russet Burbank is a variety of potato grown in North America, which is used to make fries, and is believed to be McDonald's favorite.
But farmers in the state of Idaho, the main producer of this root vegetable, rely on water from snowmelt in the mountains to irrigate the crop, and climate change is causing less snowmelt to occur as quickly as in previous years, affecting growth.
Traditionally, the snowpack is well established by early April and slowly melts during the summer, providing a source of water. But a 2018 study found that the amount of snow on top of the mountains has decreased by 15 to 30 percent since the middle of the XNUMXth century.
Idaho has also experienced some of the most extreme heating in the contiguous United States. In July, at the height of the potato season, temperatures were more than 16ºC warmer than in 1990.
«If we have less snowfall in the mountains or earlier melting of that snowpack, it may affect our irrigation in the future.said one of the producers.
How does climate change affect potato production?
Hot, dry weather can influence the way food grows and therefore how it tastes and looks when served. Russet Burbanks are revered for their flavor when fried due to their high starch content.
But the key is to keep as much starch in it for as long as possible, and warmer temperatures speed up the conversion of starch to sugar. In potatoes, higher temperatures can cause uneven conversion of starch to sugar, causing some parts of the potato to have a higher sugar content.
Russet Burbanks is particularly prone to this, which poses a business problem for farmers because when the potato is fried, the sugary parts take on a dark color, while the starch-laden portions remain in the usual beige.
Farmers and retailers want to avoid them because the black parts"are not desirable for most consumerss”, says farmer Novy.
Looking for hybrids can be the solution
To combat the swelling problem, Dr. Novy and other plant experts are working to create varieties of patata hybrid that are more resistant to climate change.
Regarded as America's favorite version, the Burbank Russet is the focal point of many of these hybrid attempts, including the Blazer Russet, which has been developed as a hybrid since 1988.
It was launched in 2005 and is considered a substitute for the Shepody variety, which is resistant to external tuber defects, sugar tips and some diseases, while producing a higher percentage of premium potatoes. The Blazer Russet and Clearwater Russet are hybrids descended from the Burbank variety and were accepted for use by McDonald's in 2016, the first new varieties the fast food giant had accepted into its supply chain since 2000.
So we could be facing the end of this (and many others) food because of climate change.