[Its.an.education.project] The rest of the puzzle

[info at olpc-peru.info]

Edward Cherlin wrote:
> I am thinking now of potato power. I assume that there is in the
> villages generally the knowledge, skill, and equipment for fermenting
> potatoes and distilling the resulting alcohol/water/plant residue mix
> into 95% ethanol. 
Let's forget potato or any other kind of vegetable that can be eaten or 
sold to get some money.
I know many towns were potato is the ONLY food for many months (many 
different dishes, but
all based on potato, no meat, no vegetables).  People, from these towns 
look in a weird way
when some people from NGOs tell them that they can put the potato 
leftovers (what we peal?
sorry.. no good english here)... they say the peasants must put these 
leftovers in the compost
bin.  When you are hungry there are no leftovers from potatos.

In this case of "potato" I think that we are in the same bad situation 
than corn used to manufactur bio-oil
or other kind of oils.  Here, in Peru, rice, soy, corn has raised its 
price because global use
for bio-energy.
> It is my impression that the uplands of Perú are
> excellent potato-growing areas. 

Near to the true... but not the naked true. 
We have more than 3,000 varieties of potatos.  But most of the potatos 
are grown
in the Andean valleys (around 2,500 meters altitude).  Over the 3,500 
and near to the
5,000 meters altitude we live from the sheep and the llamas (average 
peasant have 100
sheep).  No big agriculture, no big cultivated lands, just plain areas, 
huge areas with
raw straw (that the sheep use very well).  90% of the population in high 
altitude have
sheep.  Only 10% have alpacas or llamas.  Only 1% have vicunas.

Best regards,

Javier Rodriguez
Lima, Peru