ANTHROP 2U03 Quiz: GRQ #4
8 Jan 2019
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Until recently, most communities depended on vegetables for food, leaving them susceptible to crop failures, and eventual famine. Potatoes were the largest crop that the irish grew, and they depended on it entirely. When the crop failed in the great famine, they had no fall back. They were left to starve by english governments and were homeless as they couldn"t pay rent: many starving individuals were in close quarters in the home, outside, or in workhouses. Overcrowding and weak immune systems and other consequences of the famine were to the advantage of opportunistic pathogens. Several factors contributed to the irish potato famine: Governmental actions: the english government didn"t believe or didn"t understand how bad the famine actually was, and through power relations (inferior/superior) thought that it was punishment to the poor irish for being immoral. Classist: legislative actions: only assisting the irish after the dissolution of the corn laws, so there were no tariffs on imported food and goods.
