Part II of Dark Princess opens with Matthew paring potatoes as assigned work for being found a stowaway onboard a ship to New York. He soon moves from this boring work to attending to passengers on traincars as a porter.
The indigenous Incas of Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes between 8,000 – 5,000 B.C. The 1530 Spanish conquistadors were responsible for transporting this commodity to Europe, where it became a staple crop for its ability to be grown in mild weather and enormous nutritional output for minimal agricultural input. And although the Great Famine of 1845 Ireland is notorious for potato crop failures, potato cultivation in Northern Europe arguably ended famine for the masses in these areas. The usefulness of potato as a crop fueled cross-continent trade as potatoes, corns and fertilizers moved between the Americas and Europe.
Potatoes being the food onboard the boat for Matthew’s intercontinental voyage makes sense given the historical use of potato to support less wealthy communities. The voyagers are menial workers who accept minimal pay to support themselves, evidenced by Matthew being offered a job alongside the men as a porter. The potato in this scene speaks towards the economic background of the workers and hints to the reader what sort of economic status Matthew will soon achieve once arriving in America.
Sources:
How the Potato Changed the World. Smithsonian Magazine. 2011. Retrieved from: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/
DuBois, W.E.B. Dark Princess: A Romance. Oxford University Press, 2007.