A classic example of how corporate capitalism ruins everything it touches is the Jersey Royal potato (Solanum tuberosum ‘International Kidney‘). These early spuds from the largest and southernmost Channel Island were a special treat up until very recently, eagerly anticipated every spring for their unique nutty flavour, creamy texture, paper-thin skin and all-round deliciousness. So it was for centuries as local farmers passed on their knowledge down the generations, particularly the practices of fertilising the sandy soil with “vraic” seaweed gathered from the beaches that enriched the soil with minerals and sea salt, and the growing of the potatoes on steep, south-facing “côtils” (coastal slopes) that maximised sunlight and drainage. These methods and the terrain meant that the cultivation and gathering work had to be carried out by hand, adding human expertise and timing to the annual harvest, while the small-scale farming emphasising soil-health, crop rotation and composting maintained sustainability, biodiversity and the special flavour of Jersey Royals.

But, quite suddenly, all that has been swept away – not by demand, but by the voracious profiteering, accumulation of wealth and monopolising commodification of anything that can be monetised that has rampaged across the planet at the behest of oligarchs to satiate their prodigious, uncontrollable greed and their plutocratic megalomania. Jersey Royals are just one more victim of an insane economic model that destroys quality, pleasure, skill and social value just to appease a few billionaires while rightwing governments do nothing in case the ‘bond markets’ disapprove.

Agribusiness, Hedge Funds and Private Equity have taken over. Corporate growers just want to cut costs, increase yields and boost profit margins. Artificial fertilisers, chemicals and pesticides have replaced seaweed and healthy soils. Fields have been covered with plastic polythene tunnels to force the potatoes to grow unnaturally faster and so get the premium ‘earlies’ to the supermarket shelves as soon as possible while sacrificing the flavour of the slower-grown crops. The time-consuming, careful husbandry and knowledgeable lifting of the potatoes has been abolished in favour of mechanical harvesting on big inland fields that degrades both the famed texture and flaky skin of Jersey Royals. And the demands of the giant supermarkets and their ‘just in time’ supply chains have eliminated freshness in order to fit their domineering conformity: uniform shapes and sizes, washed tubers, plastic packaging, and storing, shipping and cooling techniques that all combine to turn what was a superb delicacy into just another bland, blotchy, rapidly rotting, unimpressive ‘new potato’ – while still exploiting the ‘Jersey Royal’ prestige by charging twice the price of other potatoes. The ancient expression from Aesop’s Fables – ‘they’ve killed the goose that laid the golden egg’ – has rarely been more apt.

After being disappointed for at least the last five years, we’ve stopped buying them from supermarkets in our house and will only bother if they’re supplied by the few remaining traditional farmers on Jersey or are sold from small independent greengrocers or farmers’ markets. Tip: don’t buy them unless they’re sold loose and covered in earth. Another tip: if you can’t get proper Jersey Royals, buy Welsh and get Pembrokeshire potatoes.

Picture: Public Domain