On the Yssingeaux market, in the fall of 1964, “the potato that comes from “the upper region”, that is to say from this region of Meygal and Lizieux, sells for a few centimes more than its competitors. This is the observation made by our journalist Jean Masse in The Tribune – Progress from Monday November 30, 1964.
But what is the secret of Pertuis and Queyrières potatoes to achieve such success with consumers? “The altitude and the nature of the terrain allow this production to be characterized,” writes our journalist who went to meet the producers. “The soil, being lighter, acts a bit like a beauty product by giving the potatoes a smooth skin and an elongated shape. It’s this aspect that appeals to the consumer.”
Mr. Chalendar du Pertuis was the president of the Meygal-Lizieux producers' cooperative which had up to 250 members. Photo archives La Tribune – Le Progrès
Up to 250 producers united in a cooperative
And buyers are all the more satisfied as the 1964 harvest was abundant and of good quality. Unlike the previous year, late blight has not wreaked havoc and the potatoes are healthy and will keep for a long time.
But make no mistake: in the sixties, potato cultivation, although appreciated, remained quite confidential. It only brings additional income to farmers in the region. A far cry from what had been initiated a few decades earlier, when a Meygal-Lizieux cooperative was set up and brought together nearly two hundred and fifty producers from Pertuis, Queyrières, Saint-Jeures and Araules. “At that time, more than a hundred tonnes left the region for different markets,” says Mr. Chalendar, former president of the cooperative.
The Northern Bintje wins the votes
“But quickly, the cooperative's production was in competition with others of quality better suited to consumption and peeling machines…” The potatoes from Sucs were then preferred to Bintje du Nord. “Cooks will tell you that, to make a mash, it absorbs less milk and that it is smoother, lighter,” notes Mr. Riouffrait, merchant in Pertuis. While Velay consumes a lot of potatoes, it also had to import Bintje to satisfy its customers.
This is how the potato has declined in the territory, being reserved for self-consumption or for sale on the region's markets. In 1964, the cooperative disappeared and, in the fields of the Yssingelais mountains, there were only around ten left cultivating Abondance de Metz, Ker-Pondy and Krassava.
But “it sometimes happens that this region takes its revenge in years where, as a result of certain atmospheric conditions, the disease has spread to the producing regions, in Brittany or in the North. The production of these regions is then insufficient.” And the markets remember that in these mountains grow tubers whose fame would have deserved another destiny.
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