Why the Fries Taste So Good Summary and Analysis

Potatoes grow in Idaho—lots of potatoes. The J.R. Simplot Plant in Aberdeen, Idaho turns potatoes into french fries. It is a wonderfully automated factory with automated peelers and slices and people to watch for problems in the process or to identify bad potatoes which need to be removed from the assembly line.

J.R. Simplot's story is quite a saga. Having run away from home at 15, he took odd jobs throughout Idaho, all related to potatoes. At one point, however, with some extra income he bought six hundred hogs, a rifle and a truck. He went to the desert, shot wild horses, and fed the meat to his hogs all winter. The horsehides he sold. In the spring, he brought the hogs into market and sold them for...