The Maine Potato War of 1976

Planet Money

NPR

Business, News

4.6 • 29.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

When you think of a potato, one state probably comes to mind: Idaho. But for much of American history, Maine was home to the nation's largest potato crop.

That status had changed by the 1970s, with the West growing more and more of the nation's potatoes. But Maine still had one distinct advantage: A privileged position in the commodities market. The New York Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest such marketplaces in the country, exclusively dealt in Maine potatoes. And two deep-pocketed Western potato kingpins weren't happy about it.

So the Westerners waged what's now called the Maine Potato War of 1976. Their battlefield was the futures market: A special type of marketplace, made up of hordes of screaming traders, where potatoes can be bought and sold before they're even planted.

The Westerners did something so bold – and so unexpected – that it brought not only the potato market, but the entire New York commodities exchange, to its knees.

Today on the show, how a war waged through futures contracts influenced the kind of potatoes we eat.

This episode was hosted by Dylan Sloan and Nick Fountain. This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions.
0:08.5	With SAP Concur solutions, you'll be ready to take on whatever the market throws at you next. Learn more at concur.com.
0:17.0	This is Planet Money from NPR.
0:20.0	If you have eaten a potato recently and I sincerely hope you have
0:27.3	chances are it was a russet a Western russ. You know the type, brown, starchy, oblong, delicious, when baked, especially when made into French fries.
0:39.8	And this potato, it was probably grown in the rich volcanic soils of Washington or Idaho.
0:47.5	These are two of the Western states that dominate the American potato market. But that wasn't always the case.
0:55.0	There was a time not so long ago when Maine,
0:58.0	the home of rocky beaches, steamed lobster and pine forests,
1:02.0	yes, Maine was the potato capital of America.
1:05.0	They grew potatoes with a near religious intensity, even wrote songs about them.
1:10.0	Well, if you've never been to Maine
1:14.0	you had a taste of God's earth
1:18.0	take home a bag of Maine potato
1:22.0	discover what a good
1:23.2	were.
1:24.2	For years, Maine's signature potato was called the kitata.
1:29.0	It was white, a little bit round, a lot a bit delicious.
1:32.3	The all-purpose Maine potato. but round, a lot a bit delicious.
1:32.6	The all-purpose Maine potato,
1:35.0	naturally good any way you fix them.
1:37.7	Is there just something about the taste of the main potato?
	...

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