NPR

Czech Republic Creates Tuber For Health-Concious Purple-Potato Eaters

"Val Blue" is the first new variety bred at the Potato Research Institute since 2005. And though vibrant, unique types are popular elsewhere, they're still a hard sell in this potato-loving nation.
Potato Research Institute geneticist Jaroslava Domkářová says that while potatoes are a staple crop in the Czech Republic, the recent blue "specialty varieties" are harder to market.

In the east-Bohemian city of Havlíčkův Brod, two hours by train from Prague, the Potato Research Institute is caught in the crosshairs of time.

Not much appears to have changed in the PRI's "historical building" in the Institute's nearly 95 years of existence. (Given that the history of Havlíčkův Brod stretches back more than 700 years, "historical" is a relative term.) There's no front desk in the building, no lock on the door during working hours. At noon, the hallways are dark

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