Here’s the real, well-established history of the potato — and no, they did not “come to Earth” from anywhere else; they evolved naturally on this planet.
Potatoes are native to the Andes Mountains of South America, primarily in what is now southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia.
Archaeological evidence shows potatoes were being domesticated by Indigenous peoples as early as 8,000–10,000 years ago.
The first potato was likely a small, bitter tuber adapted to the harsh high-altitude climate of the Andes.
The Indigenous Andean civilizations (including the ancestors of the Inca) developed thousands of potato varieties and sophisticated farming/storage methods such as chuño, a freeze-dried potato product that could last for decades.
Potatoes were brought to Europe by Spanish explorers around 1570–1580 after the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
At first Europeans were suspicious of potatoes — they were considered strange, sometimes poisonous, or only fit for animals. Acceptance grew slowly.
By the late 1700s, potatoes became a staple food across Europe because:
They produced more calories per acre than most crops
They grew well in poor soils
They reduced the risk of famine
Frederick the Great of Prussia and Antoine-Augustin Parmentier in France promoted potato farming aggressively.
A disease called potato blight destroyed potato crops in Ireland, where the population depended heavily on a single potato variety. The famine caused over a million deaths and mass emigration.
Potatoes spread to Asia, Africa, and North America and became one of the world’s most important crops. Today, China, India, and Russia are among the top producers.
They didn’t come from anywhere else — potatoes evolved naturally on Earth through normal biological evolution. Their wild ancestors have existed in South America for millions of years, and humans started domesticating them about 10,000 years ago.