Why were the Irish so dependent on potatoes as a staple food at the time of the Great Famine? Why couldn’t they just have turned to other grains as an alternative to stop more deaths from happening?

Question

Why were the Irish so dependent on potatoes as a staple food at the time of the Great Famine? Why couldn’t they just have turned to other grains as an alternative to stop more deaths from happening?

In: 5352

Answer 1

There’s no TLDR here, so here goes: Irish farmers were forced onto tiny plots of land by British landlords, forcing them to farm the most calorie-efficient crop available to survive: the potato. When the potato blight came, they lost their last lifeline.