What In The Actual Hell Is Idaho’s Potato Belt?

Mention the state of Idaho to someone who isn't from Idaho. One of two outcomes will proceed to come to fruition:

• "You mean Iowa?"
• "You mean like Idaho potatoes?"

The first one is just ignorance. You don't need those kind of people in your life. We're here to talk about the latter.

Full discloser: This writer is not originally from Idaho. Perhaps this is naivety, maybe this is a well known fact that has been kept from one single author.

Have you ever heard of Idaho's "Potato Belt?"

According to some Nasa article about tectonic plates, there's a place of interest in Idaho they're looking at referred to as the "Potato Belt."

First of all Nasa, I'm not a scientist. How do you expect me to read that and understand a single thing you're talking about? Way, way too many big words.

Second, you can't just make up names for an area of Idaho simply because we grow potatoes here. We also have street vendors here who sell hot dogs. Why didn't you refer to it as the "Street Vendor Serving Hot Dogs Belt?"

Where, exactly is this supposed potato belt? Along the Snake River Plain, where about 30% of all of Americas potatoes are grown. If you're from the Boise area, you could go your entire life without ever once seeing where an Idaho potato is born if you don't make it out this way.

So, are we in congruence that this location is going to be referred to as the potato belt? Are we comfortable with that?

It feels so demeaning.