No small potatoes: Andean tubers rescue the economy of a remote village in Argentina
13 October 2026 at 17:04
The trip from the village of Iruya, in northwestern Argentina, to Buenos Aires Province can take several days. “The truck carrying fresh produce takes between 24 and 35 hours to arrive,” says Raúl Viveros, a member of the community Kolla Colanzulí of Finca Santiago. That is the effort required for the country’s largest market to sell the small potato-like tubers known as papines, which have a unique flavor and are produced by the first indigenous community to have been recognized by the state of Argentina.