The potato's journey from feared outsider to peacekeeping staple was a deliberate campaign. Initially called 'devil's food,' it was rejected by peasants and elites alike. Change came through state action and savvy publicity. In the 1740s, Prussia's Frederick the Great ordered compulsory cultivation, distributing free seed. In France, scientist Antoine Parmentier famously presented potato flowers to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, sparking aristocratic fashion and public acceptance. The tuber's h