A family of four generations takes a lunch break of baked potatoes and peas washed down with chicha, a fermented beverage made from corn, while harvesting potatoes high in Peru’s Urubamba Valley—the Sacred Valley of the Incas—under the sharp eye of their grandmother and great-grandmother in traditional stovepipe hats (above). Southern Peru is considered the birthplace of the potato, which was domesticated here about eight thousand years ago. Some three thousand different landraces—cultivated varieties—have been discovered in the region, a genetic trove so important it’s been protected at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. The humble potato now feeds much of the globe and is considered the fourth most important crop in the world. Much of the credit goes to the ancient Inca, who built elaborate field systems to maximize groundwater availability. Today’s Peruvian farmers use them to plant a patchwork of potatoes, wheat, and quinoa that covers the Sacred Valley like a quilt.
