PEI - Potato = ?
In song, festivals, and our hearts the potato is celebrated as one of the core ideas of Prince Edward Island. It's embedded as a core idea of the place. It commands most of the acreage on the island, a literal icon of PEI. The humble spud is who we are. It has given us Cavendish Farms, Sharon Labchuk, and the Potato Museum. The potato is king in PEI.
2004 Statistical Review

In 1941 53% if islanders were farmers, in 2001 4.5% of our 138,000 citizens are farmers. Farmers are becoming a tiny minority in PEI, there are only 6,210 farmers on 1,523 farms.
The potato is king, but the royal family is shrinking.
By 2020 there will be about 100 farmers left!
Potatoes make up 81% of all farm revenues (totalling $348 million in 2004). That's $56,000 a year for every farmer! But they have a lot of expenses and taxes to pay. Factor in the agricultural programs and it gets a bit murkier. One thing is for sure, they are land rich.
Farmers own more than half of PEI. It is up to farmers what is going to happen to all that land, and for now they dedicate it to the potato.
But what would happen if PEI farmers dropped the potato?
What else could be done with all that acreage?
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