Once upon a time, Busy the shopkeeper was worried. He had a big pile of potatoes that nobody seemed to want. “Why aren’t people buying these delicious potatoes?” he wondered. His friend came by and noticed that the potatoes were hidden behind a display. “Maybe people can’t see them,” the friend suggested.
Busy and his friend decided to make the potatoes more exciting. They wanted everyone to see how cool potatoes really are. So, they set off on an adventure to learn more about these amazing tubers.
They traveled all the way to Peru to meet Manuel Choqque Bravo, known as the “potato whisperer.” Manuel showed them some incredible potatoes with beautiful patterns and colors. “Wow!” Busy exclaimed. “These don’t look boring at all!” Manuel explained that potatoes have been grown in Peru for thousands of years and there are over 5,000 different kinds!
Next, they visited Chef Pia León at her restaurant high in the Andes mountains. She taught them how to cook potatoes in a special way called a “huatia,” which is like an oven made from clay and soil. They cooked the potatoes and made a delicious stew with onions, garlic, pumpkin, and cheese. “Yum!” everyone said. “These potatoes are amazing!”
But the adventure didn’t stop there. Busy and his friend learned that potatoes can even grow in space! They met a NASA engineer who explained how potatoes could one day be grown on Mars. They even made a potato battery that could light up a tiny bulb. “Potatoes are so cool!” they cheered.
After their adventure, Busy realized that potatoes are not just ordinary rocks. They are full of magic and possibilities. Whether they’re cooked in a stew, turned into french fries, or even used to power a light bulb, potatoes are truly special.
With their new knowledge, Busy and his friend returned home, excited to share the magic of potatoes with everyone. They knew that potatoes might look simple on the outside, but inside, they are full of surprises and deliciousness. And so, they earned their Potato Badges, becoming true potato pros!
Remember, the next time you see a potato, think about all the amazing things it can do. From growing in the Andes to lighting up a bulb, potatoes are anything but boring. They are magical, just like you!
Potato Patterns: Just like Busy discovered colorful and patterned potatoes in Peru, let’s explore the different types of potatoes you can find at home or in the grocery store. Ask an adult to help you gather a few different kinds of potatoes. Look closely at their colors, shapes, and sizes. Draw pictures of each potato and write a few words about what makes them unique. Share your potato art with your family and explain what you learned about these amazing tubers!
Potato Power Experiment: Remember how Busy learned that potatoes can power a light bulb? With an adult’s help, try making your own potato battery at home! You’ll need a potato, a small light bulb or LED, two pennies, two zinc nails, and some wires. Follow a simple guide online to connect the pieces and see if you can light up the bulb. Talk about how the potato provides energy and why this is such a cool discovery!
Potato Cooking Adventure: Just like Chef Pia León, try cooking potatoes in a fun and new way. With the help of an adult, choose a simple potato recipe to make together, like mashed potatoes or baked potato wedges. As you cook, think about how the potatoes change when they are cooked and how they taste. Share your delicious creation with your family and talk about why potatoes are such a special food!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript, removing any unnecessary or inappropriate content while maintaining the essence of the conversation:
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[Busy] Oh, look at this pile of potatoes. I’ve tried sales, I’ve tried coupons. Don’t our customers want home fries anymore?
Hi, Busy. Is everything okay?
– You seem super stressed.
– Stressed? Try panicked! Our potato sales are plummeting! People just aren’t buying them.
What’s the potato problem?
Maybe because no one can see them behind that display.
These aren’t just rocks; they’re potatoes!
They definitely look like rocks.
What do you think? Wanna try?
– Oh. Nobody wants our potatoes?
At this rate, I’ll have to cancel our next order. No more potatoes at this store.
But what’ll I tell Mrs. O? We need a cool display to make the potatoes appealing.
Hmm… You ready?
– Let’s go.
♪ Listen to your vegetables ♪ ♪ And eat your parents with Waffles & Mochi ♪
Mrs. Obama, I just don’t understand. French fries, mashed potatoes… Why aren’t people buying them? Potatoes are so delicious.
– That’s true.
We gotta get to MagiCart. At this rate, we’ll be stuck with these potatoes forever.
Mochi, ready for the world to fall in love with this potato?
Three, two, yum! Blast off!
[Waffles] Listen to your vegetables…
I like potatoes.
Are you sure this is a potato?
I’m pretty sure I have a piece of dirt or a rock in my hand.
Potatoes come in different shapes. One day, I found a potato that looked almost like a cross.
It looks… hairy. I think a potato is beautiful because when I try it, I taste beautiful flavors.
It’s beautiful if it’s been peeled. But if it’s not peeled, it’s not so cute.
I think potatoes are kind of ugly but taste great.
Okay, MagiCart. We have to help our customers see potatoes are cool, not boring.
But, between you and us, they’re just boring rocks, right?
Have you seen the potatoes they’ve been eating in Peru for the last 8,000 years?
Uh, no.
Well, get ready, because we’re about to meet Manuel Choqque Bravo. Chefs call him “the potato whisperer.”
Hey, Mochi. What’s a potato whisperer?
Prepare for landing in Peru!
So Manuel, how do we make people more excited about potatoes?
I’ll show you some potatoes that are not boring.
– Look.
Whoa! Look at the pattern on that. It looks like a drawing with a marker, but in a potato.
These are really delicious when cooked. The potatoes are natural. They grow in the Andes in Peru.
That one is just completely red.
Wow! Each one looks like its own painting. And today, there are over 5,000 varieties of potatoes.
Manuel, how do you grow a potato that cool?
There are some foods, like tomatoes, that come from seeds. But the potato is its own seed.
Can you believe that?
You dig a hole in the ground with a pick, and you plant the potatoes. Then cover it with soil. Then we wait about five months for the potatoes to start popping up. Then we start harvesting.
Coolest potatoes I’ve ever seen.
Are people gonna fall in love with them, Mochi?
Mochi?
Mochi! Look!
I’m going to give you these potatoes for my friends Pia and Cristóbal, so they can teach you how to cook them.
Here.
Cool. Look at the shapes and—
I’m sorry, Mochi.
We’re gonna talk about Antoine.
There was a guy named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier. Antoine lived in France in the 1700s.
Then, the whole town abandoned potatoes because they thought they made people sick. Growing them was against the law.
Antoine felt really sad because he loved potatoes. He would say, “You should like it, it’s healthy and easy to grow.”
So, to prove it, Antoine called his friend Benjamin Franklin, and he said, “You wanna come to my house to try my new potato dishes?”
Benjamin Franklin said, “Yes.”
So he came to France and tried his dishes. And he loved them so much he went back to the United States to tell how wonderful potatoes were.
And then Antoine went to see the queen, Marie Antoinette.
Antoine told her to wear potato flowers because they were so pretty. Potatoes became so popular that it was okay to eat potatoes and grow them.
So whenever you’re eating a french fry, remember Antoine-Augustin Parmentier.
We’ve got Manuel’s potatoes. They look cool, but will Manuel’s friend Pia be able to cook ’em?
Hold on to your taters, you two. We’re headed high in the Andes to Chef Pia León’s award-winning restaurant, Mil.
I’m pretty sure she can take your tubers to the next level.
Hope you’re hungry!
Oh, hi. Are you Pia?
Yes, I’m Pia. I’m Waffles, this is Mochi. Manuel said we should bring you these.
Perfect timing. We’re gonna build a huatia. Let’s go.
What exactly is a huatia?
So, the huatia is a traditional way to cook potatoes here in the Andes.
So the idea is to build a pyramid with a lot of balance.
It’s an oven made of clay and soil.
Why do you like cooking like this?
Because here happens all the harvest, so the idea is to share a nice time between working and eating potatoes.
So we are ready. We’re gonna start to build a fire.
Light the huatia.
Look at those potatoes.
Oh, no! It’s collapsing!
To put out the fire and finish cooking potatoes, they knocked over the huatia.
Looks like potatoes are fully cooked and cooled down. Let’s dig ’em up.
Cristóbal, do you have a favorite way to eat potatoes?
Come with us, and we’ll show you.
Okay. Come on, Mochi.
I’m gonna show you our own way to cook potatoes.
We’re gonna prepare a potato stew.
Really simple, but with a lot of flavor.
So, here in Peru, we always eat with onions, garlic. And then we have an amazing pumpkin here, local.
So we just add the pumpkin and the potatoes.
We love yellow chili.
The idea is to use all the vegetables we have on the farm.
I like to finish with a little milk to make it more creamy.
And we’re gonna put some cheese.
Now we wait.
Whoa! That looks so good.
You have to try.
We do?
I guess we have to try.
Mmm!
So do you like it? Yes or no?
Wow. Who knew potatoes could be so delicious?
How do you say “delicious” in Spanish?
Delicioso.
Is there anything else you can tell us about potatoes that will blow people’s minds?
Yes. Do you know potatoes can grow in space?
I like mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods and french fries.
Roasted. Baked. Potato chips are delicious.
As long as it’s not raw. No one likes it raw.
Guess what, MagiCart?
Potatoes can grow in outer space.
In fact, scientists are figuring out how to one day grow potatoes on Mars.
Remember, plant one, and a bunch of little copies will pop up.
I know a scientist in Los Angeles who knows something about growing potatoes on Mars.
Let’s go hang out with NASA engineer Bobak Ferdowsi, whose team put the Curiosity rover on Mars!
Hey, Bobak.
We wanna grow potatoes on Mars to make our potato display really special.
Is it true that you can grow potatoes in space?
You can grow ’em in space.
So far, we’ve grown them in low Earth orbit, where the space station and space shuttle fly.
So what you’re saying is if two friends were to grow a potato on Mars, it would be the coolest potato in the world?
Not just the world, the galaxy.
Why are they so easy to grow in space?
Potatoes actually have a lot of the ingredients they need in tube form. They don’t need a lot of light to grow, so it’s a good food if you’re gonna travel to Mars.
And you can turn it into a battery.
What do you guys say we try to build one?
Yes, yes!
You need a nail, and you need some wires.
I’m gonna stick that there.
And here is a penny, so we’ve got most of what we need.
Tiny light bulb.
Ready to see if this potato battery lights up this bulb?
Yeah. Let’s light this spud.
Look at that.
A little glow from that light bulb.
Good job, potato.
You can eat it and power things with it.
The potato is so amazing.
You thinking what I’m thinking?
To the MagiCart!
How did they get in my house?
If we grow potatoes on Mars, people will come from all over to see them.
It will be the most amazing potato display in history!
Now approaching Mars.
Time to plant the first potato ever on Mars.
Let’s plant this spud!
Okay, potato’s in the ground, just like Manuel showed us.
Okay. Now we wait.
I spy, with my little eye, something red.
Yep, yep, a rock.
Good job, Mochi.
This is gonna take a while.
Hello, I’m Tan France from Netflix’s Queer Eye.
Today, I’m here to meet Spud. He needs help bringing out that inner beauty.
Today we’re gonna bring out your inner beauty.
Let’s get going.
Are we thinking country?
Mind if I mess up your hair?
I like that for you.
Here’s the thing, I don’t wanna hide too much because you’re so hot potato.
So how about just a tux?
Thoughts?
Listen, if that tux can’t make you feel the way you wanna feel, I think we just have to accept the fact that…
Yeah, you’re perfect just the way you are.
Nothing looks as good as this looks.
You’re perfect.
Best look ever.
I spy, with my little eye, something… potato-y.
You’re right again. It’s a rock.
Did Manuel tell us that spuds take five months to grow?
Well, I didn’t bring a change of underwear. Did you?
I think we failed. Let’s go head home.
At least we learned a lot about potatoes, huh?
Hey, yeah. Even if the potato didn’t grow on Mars, it still went to Mars.
How many potatoes can say that? None.
Mission basically accomplished.
Take us home, ol’ buddy.
What? MagiCart?
Take us home, ol’ buddy!
I appreciate your concern, but we’ve gotta give people their space to grow.
– I’ve been too harsh?
– You might be boxing her in.
You gotta learn how to work things out with coworkers.
Hi, Mrs. O!
We went to Mars. The potato saved the day!
You went to space?
Oh, yeah.
We thought we had to make the potato awesome by bringing back a Mars potato.
It was already awesome.
That’s an important lesson.
Sometimes, we make the mistake of thinking that what makes something special is on the outside.
But what you realized is what’s important is what’s on the inside.
And that there’s real magic inside, right?
Yeah, you’re right.
First time I saw a potato, I was like, “It looks like a rock.”
But we found out the potatoes can be super beautiful.
When we roasted potatoes in an old-fashioned huatia, we used ’em to make delicious food.
But it was hearing about space potatoes that took us to Mars.
And when we got stuck, we used a potato battery to get home.
Potatoes definitely aren’t rocks but potatoes definitely do rock.
Seems like you guys are a couple of potato pros.
And for that, you both have earned your Potato Badges.
Congratulations once again.
I’m glad you both know how great potatoes are, but how do we make sure our customers know?
Oh, Busy. Leave that to us.
Good night, potatoes.
You’re not super flashy, you don’t need to scream and shout.
So I just had to look a little closer to see what you’re all about.
You can fix a light bulb, you can power cars.
You can even grow on Mars.
A boring, ordinary potato, that’s not what I see.
‘Cause boring, ordinary potatoes are magical to me.
Good night, potatoes.
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This version maintains the playful and educational spirit of the original transcript while ensuring it’s appropriate for all audiences.
