Chapters 8.55
8.55-Low-Cost Potato Peelers
Dimitri Papadedes, University of Guelph, Canada
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Papadedes,D. (2022) Low-Cost Potato Peelers,In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org
Background
There are many reasons why the introduction of handheld potato peelers for various fruits and vegetables would be useful for smallholder households. Some of these reasons include boosted income for women (Yakovleva, 2007), easier access to micronutrients mostly found in fruits and vegetables (Darmon, Maillot & Drewnowski, 2005), and reduced drudgery for women to remove stubborn, sometimes even toxic, peels. Smallholder women farmers grow vegetables in their home gardens and the peel can represent a barrier to commercialization and hence enhanced profit; potato peelers could be an inexpensive solution to this problem.
Introduction to the handheld potato peeler
Handheld potato peelers are culinary tools consisting of a blade with a slot in the middle of it to remove the outer layer or the peel of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and more. Potato peelers are a safer and more efficient way of removing this outer layer, compared to cutting it off with a knife - as this method has a higher risk of injury and generates more food waste. Large mechanical peeling machines are expensive, heavy, difficult to transport and require machinery. Therefore, handheld peelers would be ideal as they are lightweight cheap and very easy to use. Not to mention they are much safer than using a traditional knife.
Potato peelers are a solution to a variety of other issues, one of those being the safety of the consumption of some vegetables. For example, potato peels are tough to eat and even harder to digest (Montanati et al., 2017). Potato peelers offer an easy solution to this by making the process of peeling vegetables much more efficient. They could also be used on cassava, which is toxic and can cause very harmful side effects if not peeled and soaked to remove cyanide (Coursey,1973). In Africa, potato peelers allow working women to peel more potatoes - or other vegetables - more efficiently and therefore have more to sell, increasing their income. It is unknown what the market price of peeled or unpeeled potatoes is in Africa at this time - but in 1955 in the United States, it was found that peeling a potato marked up the price by up to 400% (Agricultural Marketing Service, 1955). It can be assumed that the price of marketable goods in Africa will then also increase per pound. According to Indiamart.ca, on average the price for a handheld potato peeler is anywhere from 0.30 USD to 1 USD. With upwards of 9 versions of the potato peeler, this gives farmers lots of options for choosing the best tool for the job (Jon & Cindy, 2021). One example is a swivel peeler, which is better used for long vegetables such as carrots and cassava. Another one is the Y or Swiss peeler which is good for large firm vegetables such as potatoes, squash and apples. A serrated peeler is suited for softer, thin-skinned produce like tomatoes, eggplants or peaches (Jon & Cindy, 2021). Overall, potato peelers offer great versatility to many smallholder farmers.
Benefits of a Handheld Potato Peeler
In terms of practical use, handheld potato peelers may be more effective for smallholders than powered units that require electricity or petrol, which may be inaccessible, unreliable or expensive for remote, rural communities. With respect to traditional peeling with a knife, efficiency and safety are significant concerns. From tests, potato peelers are almost two times more efficient than a paring knife (Poirirer, 2016) and are much safer to use as well. A smallholder farmer has two options, either sell foods raw and unprepared or make/cook them into foods that are less perishable or take more labour. Making jams, sauces and other goods are less perishable. On average unrefrigerated and unopened jams can last anywhere from 1-2 years (Cindy, 2015), compared to days for raw fruits and vegetables. Another benefit of peeling and then processing fruits and vegetables is is that they can sell these items at higher prices, in effect creating a higher income source especially for women. They can also save these items for when the demand and hence purchase price is higher (e.g. the dry season).
Distribution and Upkeep
One of the many challenges when it comes to introducing a new product to smallholder farmers pertains to the distribution of not only the product but also how to upkeep the tools. Agriculture cooperatives could play a significant role in the distribution of tools to smallholder farmers in Africa (Ortmann & King, 1970). Potato peelers could be sold in market stalls in rural and peri-urban areas, easily accessible to women. Upkeeping handheld potato peelers is rather easy to do, as one would only need a sharpening file. Sharpening a peeler is as easy as rubbing a file back and forth on each part of the blade (How to Sharpen a Vegetable Peeler, 2021).
Critical Analysis
African farmers may want to use their traditional methods to peel vegetables and be unwilling to use potato peelers. Tradition in Africa is very important, including farming and food preparation practices including tools (Boateng,1983). So, it may take evidence to change smallholder farmer’s traditional practices. One of the biggest challenges in introducing anything new to smallholder farms is price. However, these potato peelers are so cheap, almost anyone can use one which makes it highly accessible. As these handheld peelers help markup prices for farm products, some women could use fruits and vegetables grown in their home gardens to set up small commercial businesses and have an extra source of income. Due to vast improvements in the safety and efficiency of these tools (Poirirer, 2016), women who start these kinds of businesses can also recruit their children to assist.
Practical Resources to Get Started
There are videos online of how to sharpen/straighten blades at home with everyday things (like the back of a fork): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVt1cWLxJMw&ab_channel=Which%3F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL0gN5IgK8s&ab_channel=Chowhound
Here is a demonstration of how to use a potato peeler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taBk7cPuyWQ&ab_channel=K-StateResearchandExtension
Here are some websites with prices and different models, these range from knife models to big industrial machines but those aren’t as ideal as handheld versions: https://dir.indiamart.com/search.mp?ss=potato+peeler+knife
How to turn apples into a sauce for selling at a high value: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu_6aOqjfnA&ab_channel=TheStayAtHomeChef
Here are nine different types of peelers for different situations: https://littleupgrades.com/types-of-peelers/
Conclusion
In conclusion, introducing potato peelers might be difficult in terms of distribution but overall, they would be helpful not only to improve consumption of micronutrient-rich foods by the family but also add value and profit and reduce the labour required for making/selling processed food products. The general use and upkeep of these devices are very simple and can be taught easily to smallholder farmers. Lastly, the efficiency, safety and low price make potato peelers a tool with high adoption potential.
References
1. Agricultural Marketing Service (1955), The Commercial Potato Peeling Industry. Retrieved from https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/310182/files/mrr105.pdf
2. Arapoglou, D., Varzakas, T., Vlyssides, A., & Israilides, C. (2010). Ethanol production from Potato Peel Waste (PPW). Waste Management 30, 1898-1902. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956053X10002448.
3. Boateng, F. (1983). African traditional education: A method of disseminating cultural values. Journal of Black Studies, 13(3), 321-336.
4. Cindy (2015). Jam - how long does jam last? shelf life expiration date. Eat By Date. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from http://www.eatbydate.com/other/condiments/how-long-does-jam last-shelf-life-expiration-date/.
5. Coursey, D. G. (1973). Cassava as food: toxicity and technology. In Chronic Cassava Toxicity. IDRC, Ottawa, ON, CA.
6. Darmon, N., Darmon, M., Maillot, M., & Drewnowski, A. (2005). A nutrient density standard for vegetables and fruits: nutrients per calorie and nutrients per unit cost. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(12), 1881-1887.
7. Khairnar, M. D., & Nair, S. S. (2019). Study on Eggshell and Fruit Peels as a Fertilizer. In Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Development, Feb 14-15, 2019, Pune, India (pp. 25-27).
8. Cuisine Home (2021), How to sharpen a vegetable peeler. (from https://www.cuisineathome.com/tips/how-to-sharpen-a-vegetable-peeler/.
9. Javed, A., Ahmad, A., Tahir, A., Shabbir, U., Nouman, M., and Hameed, A. (2019). Review potato peel waste its nutraceutical, industrial and biotechnological applications. AIMS Agriculture and Food 4, 807-823. Retrieved from: https://www.aimspress.com/article/id/4192
10. Jon & Cindy. (2021). The 9 types of peelers for vegetables and fruits. Little Upgrades. Retrieved from https://littleupgrades.com/types-of-peelers/
11. Montanati, A., Maria, I., & Cifarelli, A. (2017). Agri and food waste valorisation co-ops based on flexible multi-feedstocks biorefinery processing technologies for new high added value applications. agrimax. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://agromax.iris.cat/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AGRIMAX-D.1.2_Mapping-of-AFPW-and-their-characteristics.pdf.
12. Ortmann, G. F., & King, R. P. (1970). Small-scale farmers in South Africa: Can Agricultural Cooperatives facilitate access to input and product markets? AgEcon Search. Retrieved from https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/13930/.
13. Poirier, G. (2016). Potato Peeler Vs Paring Knife [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHd9t1Gkdc&ab_channel=GhislainPoirier
14. Soderquist, M. R., & Graham, J. L. (1977). Fruit-, Vegetable-, and Grain-Processing Wastes. Journal (Water Pollution Control Federation), 49(6), 1118–1123. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25039693
15. Yakovleva, N. (2007). Perspectives on female participation in artisanal and small-scale mining: A case study of Birim North District of Ghana. Resources Policy, 32(1-2), 29-41.