I think it happened at the exact moment of collision of two cosmic events:
1. "They" said that the peel is good for you
2. We got lazy

LOL. Ok sorry, just being silly. I do remember eating the peel on the baked potato when I was still a kid. And I really don't want to peel potatoes even though my mother always did.

It's funny that some people will throw away a fry if it has peel on it... Old habits and perceptions are hard to overcome. In my house, the only time I peel potatoes is if they have eyes on them - and then I just peel they eye part.

So... let's see. I probably was eating the peel in the 70s, got married and refused to peel in the 80s, so unless I'm ahead of my time, it's been a while. But I agree that it's still not 100% accepted.

Here's a related question. Some people eat the peel of a sweet potato too. I haven't because I always thought it would be too thick/tough. What's your take on that?

Albert:
Remember the saying,
" You can't teach an Old dog new tricks "

My saying is :
" You can't teach a new dog Old Tricks " unless it's a Pup!

I started eating the Skins too when the Fad came out.

But now I peel, because I think of all the Fertilizer
and Toxics in which they are growing .

There are arguments against this but with all the things we are bombarded with,
I can't see how anyone can't take a little of this into consideration.

I knew for years they are selling Top Soil from Sewage Treatment plants.
Would you eat a Potatoe after it was dipped in a full toilet ?????

I don't grow Organic Vegetables or Home grown anymore.

Soooooooooo !!! the Potatoes get peeled.

They say the nutrients are just under the skin any way.

I don't know if any of the goodies have infiltrated into the Potatoe also.

But for now I peel !!!

Lou

Milorganite is likely too sterile to be good top soil....
My grandfather used whatever poop he could find....most often chicken or duck....but he thought that sheep was the very best.
I don't like the papery peel on boiled potatoes, so mostly peel them unless they are the size B ones.
Never peel baked potatoes and don't eat sweet potato skin anymore than I eat butternut squash skin.

But what I want to know is when did we think we had to peel carrots? My grandmother scraped them with a knife and that's what I do too....unless I am serving raw carrots and want them to be especially pretty.

Linda C

This is how a true Idahoan peels a potato!

I've been eating the peels from baked yams for years now. I especially like the parts where the skin gets a bit caramelized from the natural sugar. I always ate the peel of baked potatoes too. I like the crispiness. The biggest drawback is that I add extra butter & ground pepper to the skins to make them tastier. For me, laziness became the factor for keeping the skin on mashed potatoes. By the time I'm done cutting out bad spots, etc., I'm not using the entire peel anyhow.

I've wondered about carrots too.

"But what I want to know is when did we think we had to peel carrots?"

For me it was when I decided I prefer sharp knives. Does scraping carrots dull knives? I don't know, but any perpedicular movement would seem like abuse to me.

I only peel carrots and/or potatoes if we have company over who might be offended by peelings left on. But I always wash ALL vegetables and fruits thoroughly, even if they're headed for a pot of boiling water.

Angelaid, that photo is priceless! lol

I peel potatoes. (Or rather, I used to, when I was cooking.) I just don't like the feel of the skins, and I don't like the look of them. And as someone said earlier, The Peel Fad probably had its origins in laziness!

I prefer my apples peeled, too. And figs. And I get the heeby-jeebies just touching the furry skins of peaches and apricots.

I guess I just prefer the totally naked look of the things I eat!

Among the conjectures that came to mind before asking the question was the word "refined". White sugar is "refined". "Refined" people preferred "refined" sugar for a century or two. Could the same apply to potatoes?

The reason I asked the question first on the vegetable forum was because I wondered if the peelings of wild potatoes were toxic.

I've a carrot story. As kids we were sent to the garden to get carrots and would pull up a fine one, rub some of the dirt off on our tattered denim overalls and eat the raw carrot. But if it were taken into the house it would be washed and peeled.

I peel potatoes if I'm going to mash them, that's one potato dish where I don't want to see the skin.

I expect it was an "upper class" affectation many generations ago. The poor roasted the potatoes, with jackets on, in the fire and carried them to work, but the rich would never do something gauche, they ate peeled potatoes at the table!

Albert:
We did the same thing on the farm, with everything.

and if you saw a Worm in the Corn , that meant it was sweeter.

Foodon:
You haven't lived till you try scraping carrots.
try a Paring Knife.
Or even Scrub Rite Pads to take the hair off. LOL

I had Red Potatoes last night. Nuked and cut up with Butter
and Garlic Powder.

With the skins on.!!!!!
Lou

Lou - I've scraped carrots. That's what my mom taught me to do. Scraped carrots are ugly and Mom's knives are dull. Again, I don't know if there's a correlation.

Lowspark the peels of sweet potatoes are actually very thin and good too. Like Shambo said they can get nice and carmelized if juices have run out. I like them.

Albert I think the refined theories are probably the closest. The rich could afford to "waste" the skins by peeling. Your theory about toxic skins is interesting too. We do know that when potatoes are exposed to the sun they turn green and that is toxic. Perhaps peeling was a way to do away with the green toxic part and yet save the potato. Interesting.

I love potato peels!

Okay... that said potatoes are a member of the nightshade family of plants. When they start to turn green it is an indication that poisons may have formed. Peeling deep enough to remove the green removes most of the poison. Probably more of a problem for our grandparents that did not have the benefits of modern storage methods. They would still be eating last years potatoes at this time so there would have been a greater chance of poisons forming.

Green potatoes are a problem for me because I don't eat up a bag fast enough. I put them in the fridge to extend storage life but I still note they go green after a couple months.

Now I'm struck with a craving for curried potatoes with chick peas.

: )
lyra

Here is a link that might be useful: wiki potato article

Angelade....too funny!
A few years back, when my daughter was of an age when her friends were getting married, I hosted a bridal luncheon. You know the bride, her "maids" mothers of all, grandmothers perhaps, champagne, dainty lunch....everything girley girley.
I had some sort of plated salad with marinated tiny red potatoes, laborously peeled of a strip of skin around the middle, so the flavor of the vinaigrette they were marinated in would penetrate.
We giggled and laughed while peeling those potatoes! We soon discovered that you had to remove that little strip of peel before cooking the potatoes.
We called them "bikini potatoes"...wish I had thought to make them a little more "bikini-like".
I know someone who eats peanuts, shells and all.....good source of fiber he says....
Linda C

"I know someone who eats peanuts, shells and all.....good source of fiber he says...."

Yeah I suppose there's fiber.. but more importantly it tastes good. Try it.

All this talk of refined vs nonrefined and carrots brings this sort of off topic comment to mind. In the move, It Happened One Night, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are pretty hungry at one point and he finds some carrots growing and offers her one. She refuses to eat a raw carrot - the very thought! She later does eat one though, when she gets hungry enough.

I find that funny because I love and have always eaten raw carrots, everyone does, don't they? But apparently, that hasn't always been true.

Back (kind of) on topic, coconut, next time I bake sweet potatoes, I'm going to eat some skin and see what I think. Why waste!?

When in Korea, I was assigned to a Water Supply Co.
They treated Water in large Swimming Pool type tanks.
I didn't ! I was a Cook.

This water was pumped into Tank Trucks and sent to the front lines.

Why ????? because we couldn't drink the water.
They used Human waste that was
spread on the fields as Fertilizer,

We couldn't eat any of their food that was grown.

That is one of the reasons I peel Potatoes. I think too much !!!

I grew up on farms and did the same things everyone is talking about,
Cleaning a carrot off on your Jeans and munchuing on it.
Picking Tomatoes off the Plant ,
dropping it in the dirt and kissing it up to God.

It was then purified and good to eat.

Foodon:
Get a life will you. Scrape some Carrots. LOL!!!
Lou

When Kevin and I visited St. George, Utah a couple of years ago, we went to see the winter home of Brigham Young (where he kept his winter wife), and while peering through the windows on the porch, we were asked to enter the house to begin the tour. We had no intention of taking the tour - we only wanted to look through the windows, but there was no getting out of taking the tour, since we had been standing where people wait to take the tour, and the guide never stopped talking, once he told us that the tour was beginning.

In the beginning part of the tour, our guide told us how Brigham Young had fed his family peeled potatoes while he instead ate the peelings, since there was very little food at that time. As a result of this, his family died of malnutrition, while BY grew healthy eating potato peelings, and he never peeled potatoes after that.

Kevin has a video of this tour, and it might be on youtube, in case anyone is interested. We're not sure how much of what the guide told us was true, but it was entertaining, nonetheless.

Lars

Many years ago I was helping an old farm wife prepare dinner (noon meal). We were peeling potatoes, and I said that I never peel a potato. "Why, who does it for you?" she asked.

How funny, Lacyvail! And Angelaid. I'm loving this thread. That's interesting about Brigham Young, Lars. I wonder if it's true. I lived in Wyoming for a short time while I was a kid, and we studied Brigham Young very briefly as part of Wyoming history. I don't remember anything about his family dying of malnutrition, but that doesn't mean much. They may not have mentioned that fact. There was a lot left out of history lessons in those days.

Who knew that talk of peelings could be so entertaining.

Count me among those that eat the peels of both baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes. There are parts of the sweet potato skins that aren't as tender, so they stay on the plate, but I eat what is the most tender. As for mashed potatoes, sometimes I peel and sometimes I don't. I guess it depends on what mood I'm in.

Lou, in one of my cookbooks, but I don't remember which one, they suggest when using lemon or orange zest to only use organically grown fruit, since the toxins they spray tend to accumulate in the skins. I see what you mean about that happening in potatoes. Well, I have a patch of potatoes in my back yard that hasn't had a single toxin sprayed on them (other than what the neighbor's tom cat has done), and I'm eagerly waiting to dig into those potatoes, skin and all.

Sally

Lars :
Was the Guide smiling when he told about Brighamt Young, eating the Potatoe Peels.
- - - - - - - - - -
I also learned enough about Kimche, when I was in Korea.
Everyone to their on tastes.
- - - - - - - - - -
Laceyvail:
I liked that one !!!

Foodon:
My Deer eat peanuts and spit the Shells out ???
I'll have to get them to read this Post.

Sally :
I'm it trouble. I use Orange Zest in my Cheese Cake.
It comes in a Bottle ( McCormicks )
I don't know if it is Organic ???
" I'll kiss it up to God "

Didn't anyone else do that, when you were a little kid.
Come on, Fess Up !!!

Gina ?????

I guess a lot of us don't remember when we were little. LOL

I have a lot of pictures to prove I was little once.

In fact, I was very young when I was born !

Sally :
Enjoy the Potatoes !!! Wish I could grow something.
I bought a Tomatoe Plant. I'll have to hang it out side my Bedroom window,
so the animals can't reach them.
If they do they are in trouble.
It might look strange hanging in the front of my house.
I'll take a Photo, when I get it hung.
Lou
PS : I think old Tom Cats make good fertilizer ???

I think momj47 has the right of it when it comes to why folks got to peeling potatoes. Sort of like cutting the crusts off of bread...a genteel affectation that those of lesser means began to emulate once they could afford to.

Personally, I rarely peel a potato. Only if I'm making potatoes for someone whom I know doesn't care for the peels, really, or if I'm grating them into a soup as thickener. Or, if they've gotten a bit green. When I do peel them, the peels either go in the compost pile (the green ones) or I make my husband and I a little, guilty snack of french fried potato peels.

I peel carrots because unlike home grown carrots, the ones from the store seem to have a certain bitterness in the peel. But those get used in stock or tossed into the compost pile.

I only peel cukes if they're from the store and covered with that nasty wax, or if my home grown cukes have unaccountably thick or bitter peels...but again, there's always the good old compost pile.

I waste very little when it comes to vegetable materials! :D

I don't spend a heck of a lot of worry about pesticides and fertilizers used in growing our foods. I'm certain that I acquire a far bigger dose of toxins getting stuck behind a diesel bus for a few blocks, breathing in it's stink, than I do from months of vegetable consumption. Our bodies are equipped with toxin-filtering systems, and we have undoubtedly one of the cleanest, safest food supplies in the world. In addition, our diet is far superior in it's variety and supply to that of any number of countries, cultures and historical periods.

In fact, we have so much food, so much variety, and so much complacency in our abundance that we can spend far too much of our time and nerves concerning ourselves with every theory and research finding that comes along.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't wrap my brain around how we slather our bodies with all sorts of chemicals in the form of hygiene products, make up, perfumes, dyes, and lotions, we drench our furniture, carpets, household surfaces and bathrooms with more chemicals on a daily basis, we ingest all sorts of preservatives, food additives and "natural flavors" (whatever that means), all without thought. But, God forbid that we should eat a carrot that isn't organic. Lol!

I read a book recently, fictional characters based on a factual story, about the deprivations and ordeals suffered by people on the British island of Guernsey during the German occupation in World War 2.

The book is called The Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer. Apparently, food shortages on the island were so acute, that people used the potato peelings to form the base of a potato pie - instead of pastry. An interesting concept and innovation!

And on the subject of green potatoes - it is a myth that cutting off the green bits will make the potato safe to eat. On the contrary - the toxic chemicals actually permeate the entire potato. So a potato with even a small green patch on it, or a sprout, is poisonous to eat. Whether it kills you or makes you ill is in the lap of the gods, and depends on just how much poison you've ingested. Best way to deal with it is to plant it - that way you get free fresh potatoes further down the track!!

Daisy:
I just saw this .

Food Standards Agency.

Are green bits on potatoes bad for you?
It's best to avoid eating any green bits on potatoes. This is because they can contain high levels of natural toxins called glycoalkaloids.

Glycoalkaloids are usually found in potatoes at low levels. But they can be higher in:

green parts
damaged parts
sprouted parts
High levels of glycoalkaloids can upset the digestive system and cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. But glycoalkaloid poisoning is extremely rare, even though potatoes are eaten in very large amounts in many countries.

To avoid high levels of glycoalkaloids being produced in potatoes, store them in a dark, cool and dry place. And remember not to eat any damaged, green or sprouted parts. If potatoes still taste bitter after you've removed these bits, it's better not to eat them, because they could contain high levels of glycoalkaloids.

lou

I want to know why stores have potatoes out in the light where they all turn green. If we can put a man on the moon, can't we (stores)figure out a way to market potatoes so they don't turn green! The worst are the ones sold in the brown tinted plastic bags so you can't see that they're green.

A different Vegetable in Storage :

I haven't checked my other Storage Bin for awhile.
When I did this is what I found.!

I'll have to stick a note on my forehead.
Check Onion Bin every year or so !!!

Think I'll peel the outside a little and Plant it with my
Tulips, to see what happens.
Don't think the deer like these???

{{gwi:1520868}}

One thing that's comparatively new is the knowledge that the vitamins are mostly in or near the skin -- not known until the 20th century.

But potatoes were a major food source for centuries before that and there were concerns about the peel, such as from the facsimile of the 1896 "Boston Cooking School Cook Book" by Fannie Farmer: "Potatoes contain an acrid juice, the greater part of which lies near the skin; it passes into the water during the boiling of potatoes, and escapes with the steam from a baked potato." Needless to say, all her recipes other than for baked call for paring.

Laceyvail:
You tell em Lace !!!!!!

"if we can put a Man on the Moon" That sounds familiar???

Did you write the Presidents Speech ?

Living :
If I remember right, it was brought out in another Post , that ,

Most of the Vitamins and Nutrients are just under the skin.

I don't want to learn anymore. Just want to Cook and Bake.

Like Frankie said " I did it Myyyyy WAYYYYYYYYYYY " !!!

Lou

I agree, who knew peeling potatoes would generate such lively discussion.

When DH came home from college and we started dating again, it came up that in winter he only ironed his shirt collar and cuffs since he had a sweater over the shirt. Wanting to impress me more, he also mentioned that he didn't peel potatoes. I thought he was disgusting and it almost ruined a good thing....she says XX years later!

Of course he won me over on both issues.

Cathy:
Who won Who over ???

Hey Albertttttttttttttttt !!!!!!!!
See what you started.

I even ate the Red potatoes with .

Still not crazy about the skins. I like my Home Fries,
Potatoe Salad, without.

If I'm missing any Vitamins, I'll take it in pill form.

Ah Carp !!! Now I'll hear all about Vitamins.
I Quit.
Lou

Watching an old movie on DVD a scene reminded me that my family, who were so insistent that potatoes be peeled, for the most part had no teeth. A few had dentures, none had teeth of their own.

Perhaps the history of teeth contributed to the history of peeling potatoes?

Albert :
After al the Threads, Did you learn anything ?

Don't matter what good things are put in here, people are going to do it, their way.

Eat your Potatoes with the Peels.

As for the Old Movies :
I still Peel when ever and I can chew them.

Watch some more Old Movies, maybe some day we will find the true answers. LOL
Lou