The Georgia Sweet Potato

Agricultural historians in our Southern States have largely ignored the importance of the sweet potato as a southern crop. Reference is often made to the role of rice, tobacco, cotton, and indigo in the establishment of agriculture in the South. Seldom is it mentioned that homesteaders, the farmers, the plantation families and the laborers who produced the other crops. At least one writer, a colonial doctor, referred to the sweet potato as the vegetables indispensable.  Before the days of modern drugs, frontier doctors often prescribed sweet potatoes, especially for children,  because of their value in combating childhood nutritional diseases.

Georgia was the Number One State in sweet potato production for over 100 years (1836-1936). During the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, if a farm or plantation did not have its "tater patch" of acreage, it was considered a "low-class" establishment. And before the days of super markets, fresh vegetables from Mexico, home freezers, and fast food restaurants, the sweet potato was often the only fresh vegetable available to many Georgia families. That was not as tragic as it sounds because every nutritionist knows that the coutnry boy of yesterday who "took an old cold tater and waited" was still well-fed. The recipes on this booklet can provide delicious and nutritious eating for those who don't need to wait today.

The sweet potato as a food plant has few peers. Utilizing both the roots and foliage one could live well nourished for long periods of time on this vegetable alone. The roots are packed with vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates plus some of the essential amino acids. It has been evaluated as one of the all around nutritious foods available anywhere. One medium sized sweet potato has more than twice the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin A and is rich in Vitamin C, iron, and thiamine. One teeny little bite of a Georgia sweet potato (about a penny's worth) has as much Vitamin C as a 30 cents dram glass of tomato juice in our best restaurants. Georgia sweet potatoes ounce for ounce, has over half as much Vitamin C  as Florida orange juice.

In the USDA Handbook, Number 8 Composition of Foods, fourteen nutrients are listed and the sweet potato is shown to have appreciable amounts of every one.

The leaves and tender vine tips are used as a pot herb much as we use turnips, collards, and spinach in many parts of the World. They are very high in protein, vitamins, and minerals.

The popular varieties of sweet potatoes now being grown in Georgia are the Red Jewel, Regular Jewel, and the Georgia Jet.