Jona

h is

supe

r exc

ited

to m

eet h

is co

llege

bas

ketb

all h

ero

whe

n hi

s dad

take

s him

to th

e sta

te c

olle

ge.

Whe

n he

ge

ts to

cam

pus,

he q

uick

ly re

alize

s dad

has

a d

iff er

ent

plan

for h

im an

d hi

s sist

er B

rynn

. Com

e alo

ng as

Jona

h an

d Br

ynn

mee

t a

plan

t sc

ient

ist a

nd p

rodu

ce b

uyer

w

ho h

ave

been

wor

king

for y

ears

to c

reat

e a

varie

ty o

f po

tato

to m

ake

delic

ious

fren

ch fr

ies.

Th is

is a

colle

ge

visit

Jona

h w

ill n

ever

forg

et!

aIl

lust

rati

ons

by D

onal

d W

u

aIl

lust

rati

ons

by D

onal

d W

ua

Illu

stra

tion

s by

Don

ald W

u

24

Disc

over

you

r pe

rfec

t ca

reer

on

MyA

mer

ican

Farm

.org

in

the

gam

e M

y Li

ttle

Ag M

e.

Use

the

code

“M

y Ag

Job”

to u

nloc

k a

secr

et

leve

l of g

ame

play

!

The

My

Litt

le A

g M

e Bo

ok S

erie

s is

desig

ned

to in

trodu

ce a

gric

ultu

ral c

aree

rs to

you

th.

Our

hop

e is

the

storie

s cre

ate

curio

sity

arou

nd

the

high

light

ed c

aree

rs a

nd th

ough

t pro

cess

es

prof

essio

nals

use

to c

ompl

ete

thei

r wor

k.

For m

ore

agric

ultu

ral c

aree

r res

ourc

es, c

heck

out

M

yAm

eric

anFa

rm.o

rg.

©Co

pyri

ght

2018

Am

eric

an F

arm

Bure

au F

ound

atio

n fo

r Ag

ricu

lture

All

righ

ts r

eser

ved.

Publ

ishe

d in

the

Uni

ted S

tate

s by

Fee

din

g M

inds

Pres

s.

Visi

t Fe

edin

g M

inds

Pres

s at

fee

din

gmin

dsp

ress

.com

23

Chap

ter

11:

I am

Fam

ous!

Th e

next

wee

kend

tha

t pi

ctur

e w

ith M

oose

’s ar

ticle

mad

e th

e fro

nt p

age

of t

he “

Stat

e Ti

mes

”! Th

e bi

gges

t ne

wsp

aper

in

the

state

! I g

uess

that

kin

d of

mak

es m

e a

fam

ous p

lant

scie

ntist

!

22here

to fi

nd o

ut.”

I di

dn’t

reco

gnize

the

voi

ce,

so I

tur

ned

arou

nd a

nd l

ooke

d up

…it

was

Moo

se!

Befo

re I

coul

d ev

en th

ink,

I bl

urte

d, “

Moo

se, w

hat a

re y

ou d

o-in

g he

re?”

“I

am

doi

ng m

y ho

mew

ork,

” M

oose

resp

onde

d.

“You

hav

e ho

mew

ork?

” I s

aid.

I

coul

dn’t

belie

ve t

he s

tar

of t

he c

olle

ge b

aske

tbal

l tea

m h

ad

hom

ewor

k!

“Yea

h,”

he sa

id. “

I am

writ

ing

an a

rtic

le o

n th

e pa

rtne

rshi

p be

-tw

een

Dr.

Jade

and

Rei

d an

d ho

w th

ey a

re re

sear

chin

g th

e de

vel-

opm

ent o

f a n

ew p

otat

o va

riety

. It’s

for m

y Ag

Jour

nalis

m c

lass

.” I w

as b

low

n aw

ay th

at h

e kn

ew a

bout

this

rese

arch

. “W

hat’s

Ag

Jour

nalis

m?”

I bl

urte

d ou

t. If

Moo

se w

as d

oing

that

, I w

ante

d to

do

it to

o!

Moo

se r

espo

nded

, “Ag

Jou

rnal

ism o

r Li

fe S

cien

ce C

omm

uni-

catio

n, te

chni

cally

, is m

y m

ajor

or w

hat I

stud

y at

col

lege

. Whe

n I

grad

uate

I w

ill lo

ok f

or a

job

writ

ing

artic

les

or s

torie

s fo

r an

ag

ricul

tura

l pap

er o

r mag

azin

e, o

r may

be a

pot

ato

com

pany

.” M

oose

smirk

ed a

nd lo

oked

at R

eid.

D

r. Ja

de ju

mpe

d in

and

said

, “H

ey, t

hese

guy

s hel

ped

with

our

da

ta c

olle

ctio

n to

day,

so th

ey a

re p

art o

f the

rese

arch

. Let

’s ge

t a

pict

ure

with

eve

ryon

e an

d th

en d

o th

e in

terv

iew.

”

Illu

stra

tion

s by

Don

ald W

u

Titl

e Sp

onso

r

4

To B

rook

e an

d al

l the

kid

dos

who

kee

p m

y lif

e vi

bran

t eac

h da

y!

Love

you

.

R.D

.H.

21

Chap

ter

10:

Shar

ing

the

Rese

arch

At th

is po

int,

I was

get

ting

hung

ry a

gain

and

ask

ed, “

Cou

ld w

e ha

ve so

me

mor

e fri

es!”

Dr.

Jade

chu

ckle

d an

d sa

id, “

If it’

s oka

y w

ith y

our d

ad.”

He

nodd

ed w

ith a

ppro

val.

Bryn

n an

d I w

ashe

d ou

r han

ds a

nd

each

gra

bbed

ano

ther

bow

l. W

e w

ere

not

goin

g to

pas

s up

the

off

er

to h

ave

frenc

h fri

es tw

ice

in o

ne d

ay. Th

at i

s unh

eard

of i

n ou

r hou

se!

I beg

an sc

arfi n

g do

wn

my

fries

and

Bry

nn a

sked

, “H

ow d

o yo

u be

com

e a

plan

t sci

entis

t?”

A v

oice

beh

ind

me

said

, “G

reat

que

stio

n, t

hat

is w

hat

I am

20Chap

ter

9:Th

e Co

nclu

sion

Reid

clic

ked

on a

few

mor

e th

ings

and

said

, “Lo

ok a

t thi

s!”O

n th

e co

mpu

ter

ther

e w

ere

a bu

nch

of n

umbe

rs a

nd a

bar

gr

aph.

“I

just

ran

the

anal

ysis,

and

we

are

getti

ng re

ally

clo

se to

a n

ew

varie

ty w

e ca

n us

e! Le

t’s p

lant

thes

e an

d co

llect

ano

ther

roun

d of

da

ta,”

said

Rei

d.

Dr.

Jade

agr

eed

and

said

, “W

e ca

n sta

rt se

tting

up

that

rese

arch

to

mor

row.

I th

ink

we

are

getti

ng re

ally

clo

se to

a n

ew v

arie

ty th

at

will

solv

e yo

ur p

robl

em, R

eid.

”

5

Book

Tit

le V

ocab

ular

y:

Vibr

ant

[adj

ectiv

e]: h

avin

g or

giv

ing

a se

nse

of st

rong

life

Vari

ety

[nou

n]: t

hing

s tha

t diff

er fr

om

each

oth

er

High

ligh

ted

Care

ers:

Plan

t Sc

ient

ist:

Som

eone

who

stud

ies a

nd

does

rese

arch

on

plan

ts

Prod

uce

Buye

r: A

per

son

that

buy

s fru

its

and

vege

tabl

es fo

r a b

usin

ess

6Chap

ter

1:

Wel

com

e to

Cam

pus!

“Th i

s is

goin

g to

be

AWES

OM

E!”

I th

ough

t to

mys

elf

as I

lo

oked

out

the

win

dow

of o

ur fa

mily

van

, as w

e dr

ove

dow

n th

e in

ters

tate

. H

i, I’m

Jona

h an

d I h

ave

been

look

ing

forw

ard

to th

is da

y fo

r a

long

tim

e. T

oday

, my

fam

ily is

goi

ng to

visi

t the

col

lege

that

my

dad

wen

t to

whi

ch al

so h

appe

ns to

be h

ome t

o m

y fa

vorit

e col

lege

fo

otba

ll te

am, b

aske

tbal

l tea

m, h

ocke

y te

am…

wel

l, I l

ove a

ll th

eir

team

s. M

y da

d sa

id th

at w

hen

he w

ent t

o sc

hool

ther

e, h

e ha

d cl

asse

s w

ith p

eopl

e who

are n

ow in

the N

FL, N

BA, a

nd p

laye

d on

Oly

m-

pic

team

s. H

e sa

id th

at it

was

nor

mal

to se

e th

ese

peop

le o

n th

e sid

ewal

ks e

very

day

! I

aske

d m

y da

d fo

r the

hun

dred

th ti

me,

“So,

how

man

y fa

mou

s pe

ople

do

you

thin

k w

e w

ill se

e to

day?

” H

e re

spon

ded,

“W

ell,

you

will

see

a lo

t of

thi

ngs

toda

y. Ju

st ke

ep y

our e

yes o

pen!

Who

kno

ws w

hat c

ould

hap

pen?

”W

e fi n

ally

got t

o th

e cam

pus,

and

ther

e wer

e peo

ple e

very

whe

re.

How

wou

ld I

fi nd

Moo

se in

all t

hese

peo

ple?

Moo

se is

the n

ick-

nam

e of m

y fa

vorit

e bas

ketb

all p

laye

r. H

e is t

he o

ne p

erso

n I r

eally

w

ante

d to

mee

t tha

t day

. Th e

n I r

emem

bere

d th

at M

oose

is al

mos

t se

ven

feet

tall.

He

wou

ld p

roba

bly

stick

out

! So,

I b

egan

to sc

an

the

crow

d fo

r the

talle

st pe

rson

I co

uld

fi nd.

19

Chap

ter

8:

Anal

yzin

g th

e Nu

mbe

rsRe

id tu

rned

from

the

com

pute

r he

was

look

ing

at a

nd sa

id e

x-ci

tedl

y, “A

noth

er se

t of d

ata!”

“Y

up!”

said

Dr.

Jade

as

she

set

the

buck

et o

n a

tabl

e. “

Now

w

e ne

ed to

cou

nt h

ow m

any

we

have

. Jon

ah a

nd B

rynn

, can

you

co

unt h

ow m

any

are

in th

e bu

cket

?”

We

got r

ight

to w

ork

coun

ting.

“1

98!”

I sho

uted

. “R

eid,

can

you

add

tha

t to

our

dat

a ta

ble

on t

he c

ompu

ter?

” D

r. Ja

de a

sked

. “D

one!”

Rei

d sa

id.

18Chap

ter

7:

Coll

ecti

ng D

ata

On

a ta

ble

next

to th

e do

or w

ere

bask

ets f

ull o

f pot

atoe

s. D

r. Ja

de g

estu

red

at th

em a

nd s

aid,

“Th

ese

pota

toes

wer

e ju

st ha

rves

ted

and

need

to b

e m

easu

red.

You

wan

t to

help

me?

” “S

ure,”

Bry

nn a

nd I

said

. Al

thou

gh I

was

sta

rtin

g to

thi

nk I

wou

ld n

ever

hav

e tim

e to

fi n

d M

oose

if w

e w

ere

in a

gar

den

all d

ay!

Dr.

Jade

han

ded

us ea

ch a

box

and

said

, “Th

is bo

x is

exac

tly fi

ve

inch

es lo

ng a

nd th

ree

inch

es w

ide.

Pla

ce e

ach

pota

to in

the

box.

If

it is

too

big

and

does

not

fi t,

plac

e it

over

her

e.” S

he p

oint

ed to

a

buck

et. “

If it

is to

o sm

all o

r doe

s not

fi ll

mos

t of t

he b

ox, p

ut it

ov

er h

ere.

Th e

rest

go in

her

e.” S

he p

oint

ed to

oth

er b

ucke

ts.

We

wor

ked

thro

ugh

the

bask

ets o

n th

e ta

ble

quic

kly.

Dr.

Jade

said

, “G

reat

, fol

low

me!”

She

gra

bbed

the

buc

ket

of p

otat

oes

that

fi t

in t

he b

ox a

nd

head

ed b

ack

into

her

lab.

7

Chap

ter

2:No

t W

hat

I Th

ough

tM

eanw

hile

, my

dad

pulle

d in

to a

park

ing

spot

and

said

, “W

e’re

here

!” W

e w

ere

park

ed in

fron

t of a

larg

e br

ick

build

ing.

M

y sis

ter,

Bryn

n, sa

id, “

Whe

re is

‘her

e’?”

Dad

res

pond

ed, “

Th is

is H

ortic

ultu

re H

all.

I ha

ve s

ome

fond

m

emor

ies i

n th

is bu

ildin

g.”

“Wha

t’s H

ortic

ultu

re?”

I a

sked

. My

dad

thou

ght f

or a

sec

ond

and

then

said

, “It’

s the

scie

nce

of g

row

ing

plan

ts. W

hen

I was

at

scho

ol h

ere,

I sp

ent a

lot o

f tim

e in

this

build

ing

lear

ning

abou

t all

sort

s of p

lant

s. Le

t’s g

o in

! I th

ink

that

will

hel

p yo

u un

ders

tand

.” I

quic

kly

resp

onde

d, “

Dad

, whe

n ar

e w

e go

ing

to th

e fo

otba

ll

8fi eld

or b

aske

tbal

l are

na?”

H

e ass

ured

me w

e wou

ld c

heck

thos

e out

late

r. W

ell,

this

is no

t w

hat I

exp

ecte

d, I

thou

ght.

How

wou

ld I

fi nd

Moo

se in

her

e?

Bryn

n an

d I h

oppe

d ou

t of t

he v

an a

nd fo

llow

ed D

ad in

to th

e bu

ildin

g. O

utsid

e th

e do

or w

as a

big

sign

that

said

, “W

elco

me

to

Hor

ticul

ture

Hal

l! O

pen

Hou

se T

oday

! Com

e in

and

mee

t ou

r Pl

ant S

cien

tists.

” H

mm

, I d

idn’t

wan

t to

mee

t a p

lant

scie

ntist

. I

wan

ted

to m

eet M

oose

!

17

“Th i

s is

a pa

ir of

for

ceps

, or

big

tw

eeze

rs,

like

the

ones

you

m

ight

use

to re

mov

e a

splin

ter f

rom

you

r han

d. I

am

usin

g it

to

harv

est t

he p

olle

n ov

er h

ere,”

she

said

as s

he b

egan

wal

king

acr

oss

the

gree

nhou

se, “

to b

reed

with

the

plan

ts ov

er h

ere.”

As

she t

ook

the p

olle

n in

the f

orce

ps an

d ru

bbed

it o

n th

e fl o

w-

er o

f ano

ther

pla

nt.

“Th i

s pla

nt w

ill n

ow c

reat

e se

eds t

hat a

re a

mix

of b

oth

pare

nts

whi

ch a

re d

iff er

ent

varie

ties.

Hop

eful

ly c

reat

ing

a ne

w o

ne w

ith

the

char

acte

ristic

s w

e w

ant.”

Dr.

Jade

pau

sed

and

stepp

ed b

ack

from

her

pla

nt.

“How

do

you

know

the

se t

wo

varie

ty w

ill c

reat

e w

hat

you

wan

t?” B

rynn

ask

ed.

“Let

me

take

you

to th

e te

st pl

ot a

nd I

will

show

you

.” W

e le

ft th

e gr

eenh

ouse

and

wal

ked

dow

n th

e ha

ll an

d ou

t a

back

doo

r of

the

bui

ldin

g. I

t lo

oked

like

we

just

wal

ked

into

a

huge

gar

den.

D

r. Ja

de sa

id, “

Th is

is ou

r tes

t plo

t. It’

s whe

re w

e gro

w th

e pot

a-to

es an

d co

llect

dat

a to

mak

e sur

e the

y ar

e the

size

we w

ere h

opin

g fo

r.”

16to so

lve

his p

robl

em.”

“And

that

is w

hy h

e cam

e to

you,

bec

ause

you

are a

pla

nt sc

ien-

tist!”

said

Bry

nn.

“Exa

ctly

righ

t!” re

plie

d D

r. Ja

de.

My

dad

chim

ed in

exci

tedl

y, “Th

is l

ab h

as ac

cess

to a

lot o

f var

i-et

ies o

f pot

atoe

s. W

hen

I was

at sc

hool

her

e, I

wor

ked

in a

lab

like

this

one!

We

wer

e br

eedi

ng d

iff er

ent v

arie

ties o

f pot

ato

to c

reat

e a

new

var

iety

that

whe

n fri

ed w

ould

mak

e a cr

unch

ier p

otat

o ch

ip.”

“Wha

t do

you

mea

n by

bre

edin

g po

tato

es?”

I as

ked.

D

r. Ja

de sm

iled

and

said

, “Le

t’s g

o ou

t to

the

gree

nhou

se a

nd I

will

show

you

.” W

e fo

llow

ed D

r. Ja

de in

to a

larg

e gl

ass b

uild

ing

that

was

real

ly

war

m. Th

e s

un w

as s

hini

ng a

nd it

was

brig

ht! I

t was

also

full

of

buck

ets w

ith p

lant

s gro

win

g in

them

. “Th

ese

are

the

pare

nt p

otat

oes w

e ar

e us

ing

for b

reed

ing,

” D

r. Ja

de sa

id.

“Pot

atoe

s hav

e pa

rent

s?”

I rep

lied.

M

y da

d sa

id, “

Yeah

, it’s

a lit

tle d

iff er

ent t

han

mom

and

me,

but

a

plan

t will

hav

e a

pare

nt to

o. A

par

ent p

lant

is a

ble

to m

ake

new,

lit

tle p

lant

s, I g

uess

you

cou

ld c

all t

hem

bab

y pl

ants…

.” D

r. Ja

de c

him

ed in

, “Yo

ur d

ad is

righ

t. A

plan

t nee

ds a

par

ent.

Th es

e are

mat

ure,

or a

dult,

pla

nts o

f tw

o va

rietie

s of p

otat

oes.

You

see

this

fl ow

er?”

Dr.

Jade

said

as s

he re

ache

d ou

t to

grab

a sm

all

purp

le fl

ower

. “Th

is

is w

here

the

bre

edin

g ha

ppen

s. W

e w

ill t

ake

the

polle

n fro

m th

e fl o

wer

s on

this

side

of th

e gr

eenh

ouse

and

bre

ed th

e po

-ta

toes

on

that

side

of t

he g

reen

hous

e.”

She

pulle

d ou

t a sm

all t

ool f

rom

her

jack

et p

ocke

t and

pul

led

som

ethi

ng o

ff th

e fl o

wer

. “W

hat i

s tha

t?” I

aske

d.

9

Chap

ter

3:

The

Rese

arch

Lab

Whe

n w

e w

alke

d in

the

doo

r, I

was

ins

tant

ly s

truc

k by

the

str

ong

smel

l of m

y fa

vorit

e fo

od, f

renc

h fri

es!

A la

dy in

a w

hite

lab

coat

, lik

e the

one

s doc

tors

wea

r, w

alke

d up

to

us a

nd sa

id, “

Wel

com

e to

Hor

ticul

ture

Hal

l! D

o yo

u tw

o lik

e fre

nch

fries

by

chan

ce?”

Sh

e w

as lo

okin

g rig

ht a

t Bry

nn a

nd m

e.

We

both

shou

ted,

“Ye

s!”

“Gre

at! C

ome

on in

to m

y la

b, I

wan

t to

show

you

som

ethi

ng.”

We

both

look

ed a

t Dad

. H

e sm

iled

and

nodd

ed, s

o w

e fo

llow

ed th

e la

dy in

to th

e ro

om

whe

re th

e fre

nch

fry

smel

l was

com

ing

from

. Sh

e sa

id, “

I am

Dr.

Jade

, and

this

is m

y pl

ant s

cien

ce la

b.”

Bryn

n he

sitan

tly a

sked

, “So

, you

’re a

doc

tor f

or p

lant

s?”

Dr.

Jade

smile

d an

d sa

id, “

Yes,

but p

roba

bly

not w

hat y

ou a

re

thin

king

. I a

m c

alle

d a

doct

or b

ecau

se I

am a

n ex

pert

in m

y fi e

ld

of st

udy:

pla

nts.

Pota

toes

to b

e sp

ecifi

c!”

10Chap

ter

4:Po

tato

es…

I Lo

ve F

renc

h Fr

ies

“So,

you

take

car

e of

sick

pot

atoe

s?”

I ask

ed.

“Som

etim

es, i

f th

e pl

ant

gets

sick,

but

tha

t is

rare

,” D

r. Ja

de

resp

onde

d.

“I a

m w

hat i

s cal

led

a pl

ant s

cien

tist,

and

I res

earc

h an

d stu

dy

pota

toes

.” D

r. Ja

de g

rabb

ed a

pot

ato

off t

he ta

ble

and

hand

ed it

to

Bry

nn.

“How

do

you

study

a p

otat

o? Th

ey

don’t

do

anyt

hing

,” I s

aid.

Br

ynn

adde

d, “E

xcep

t mak

e del

icio

us fr

ench

frie

s, po

tato

chip

s, or

mas

hed

pota

toes

.”

15

Chap

ter

6:

An E

xper

imen

tD

r. Ja

de c

ontin

ued,

“W

e fo

llow

a p

roce

ss w

hen

we

do a

ny so

rt

of re

sear

ch. Th

e fi

rst t

hing

is to

iden

tify

a pr

oble

m th

at n

eeds

to

be fi

gure

d ou

t whi

ch R

eid

brou

ght t

o us

.” “W

hat w

as R

eid’

s pro

blem

?” I

aske

d.

“Rei

d ne

eded

to

fi nd

a w

ay t

o bu

y po

tato

es t

hat

wer

e al

l the

sa

me

size.

He

coul

d ha

ve s

orte

d th

e po

tato

es, b

ut th

en w

hat d

o yo

u do

with

the

ones

that

are

too

smal

l or t

oo b

ig? H

is co

mpa

ny

wou

ld n

ot h

ave a

ny u

se fo

r the

m. S

o, h

e fi g

ured

, if w

e cou

ld cr

eate

a

varie

ty o

f pot

ato

that

whe

n a

farm

er p

lant

ed th

em th

ey w

ould

al

l gro

w t

o ne

arly

the

sam

e siz

e th

at w

ould

be

the

easie

st w

ay

14diff e

renc

es, ‘

varie

ties’.

” D

r. Ja

de h

eld

out f

our p

otat

oes i

n he

r han

ds. O

ne w

as b

ig a

nd

yello

w, o

ne w

as sm

all a

nd re

d, o

ne lo

oked

bro

wni

sh, a

nd o

ne w

as

purp

le!

She

said

, “Th

ese

are

all v

arie

ties

we

have

hel

ped

crea

te in

this

lab!

” I fi n

ished

eat

ing

my

last

frenc

h fr

y an

d se

t th

e bo

wl o

n th

e ta

ble.

“Th

ose

wer

e go

od fr

ench

frie

s! W

ere

they

mad

e fro

m th

e ne

w

pota

to v

arie

ty?”

I w

as p

retty

pro

ud o

f mys

elf f

or u

sing

that

wor

d co

rrec

tly!

Dr.

Jade

said

, “Th

ey su

re a

re!”

Bryn

n as

ked,

“H

ow d

id y

ou c

reat

e a

new

var

iety

?”

“Let

me

show

you

,” sa

id D

r. Ja

de.

11

“Exa

ctly

!” sa

id D

r. Ja

de. “

My

wor

k he

lps

food

pro

cess

ors

and

resta

uran

ts cr

eate

all

thos

e fo

ods

mad

e fro

m p

otat

oes

that

you

en

joy!

How

wou

ld y

ou li

ke s

ome

frenc

h fri

es m

ade

from

pot

ato

varie

ties w

e he

lped

cre

ate

in th

is ve

ry la

b?”

I am

ass

umin

g th

e ex

cite

men

t on

our

fac

es a

nsw

ered

the

qu

estio

n, a

s D

r. Ja

de h

ande

d us

eac

h a

bow

l of

stea

min

g ho

t fr

ench

frie

s!

12Chap

ter

5:Id

enti

fyin

g a

Prob

lem

As m

y da

d re

ache

d ov

er to

snea

k a f

renc

h fr

y fro

m m

y bo

wl,

he

said

, “D

r. Ja

de, c

an y

ou ex

plai

n w

hat y

ou m

ean

by a

pota

to va

riety

an

d w

hat y

our l

ab d

id to

hel

p cr

eate

it?”

“A

bsol

utel

y!”

said

Dr.

Jade

. Ju

st th

en, a

man

wal

ked

into

the

lab

with

a c

lipbo

ard.

D

r. Ja

de sa

id, “

Perfe

ct ti

min

g, R

eid!

” As

we l

ooke

d to

see w

ho R

eid

was

, Dr.

Jade

cont

inue

d, “I

wou

ld

like

you

to m

eet R

eid.

He

is a

prod

uce

buye

r, sp

ecifi

cally

a p

otat

o bu

yer,

for a

com

pany

that

mak

es p

otat

oes i

nto

frenc

h fri

es. R

eid

cam

e to

my

lab

six y

ears

ago

and

tol

d m

e ab

out

a pr

oble

m h

is co

mpa

ny w

as h

avin

g as

they

wer

e cut

ting

the p

otat

oes i

nto

frenc

h fri

es. R

eid,

can

you

tell

them

abo

ut th

at?”

“S

ure!”

said

Rei

d, a

s he

set t

he c

lipbo

ard

dow

n an

d tu

rned

to-

war

d us

. “Le

t m

e as

k yo

u th

is, h

ave

you

ever

eat

en f

renc

h fri

es

from

a fa

st fo

od re

staur

ant?”

“Y

eah,

” Br

ynn

and

I ans

wer

ed.

“Wha

t do

you

alw

ays l

ook

for i

n th

at p

acka

ge o

f frie

s you

get

?”

he c

ontin

ued.

I q

uick

ly re

spon

ded,

“Th

e lo

nges

t one

!”

13

“Exa

ctly

!” sa

id R

eid.

“M

y co

mpa

ny w

as h

avin

g pr

oble

ms w

ith

pota

toes

bei

ng a

ll di

ff ere

nt s

izes.

We

wou

ld h

ave

som

e fri

es th

at

wer

e sev

en o

r eig

ht in

ches

long

, and

som

e tha

t wer

e abo

ut an

inch

lo

ng b

ecau

se th

e pot

atoe

s we w

ere b

uyin

g to

cut

into

frie

s wer

e so

diff e

rent

in si

ze.”

He g

rabb

ed a

smal

l and

larg

e pot

ato

off t

he ta

ble a

nd sa

id, “

Do

you

thin

k th

ese

two

pota

toes

wou

ld c

reat

e fre

nch

fries

that

wer

e th

e sa

me

size?

” Br

ynn

and

I bot

h sh

ook

our h

eads

no.

Re

id co

ntin

ued,

“W

hich

one

wou

ld y

ou ch

oose

to m

ake f

renc

h fri

es fr

om a

nd e

at th

em?”

W

e bo

th p

oint

ed a

t the

big

one

. “E

xact

ly!”

said

Rei

d. “

Resta

uran

ts w

ere

aski

ng m

y co

mpa

ny to

pr

ovid

e th

em w

ith f

renc

h fri

es t

hat

wer

e ni

ce a

nd lo

ng b

ecau

se

that

is w

hat

thei

r cu

stom

ers

wan

ted.

I a

m t

he o

ne in

cha

rge

of

buyi

ng t

he p

otat

oes

whi

ch m

akes

me

the

prod

uce

buye

r. Th

at

mak

es it

my

job

to fi

nd p

otat

oes t

hat w

ere a

ll sim

ilar i

n siz

e, so

we

coul

d cu

t the

m a

ll to

the

sam

e le

ngth

.” D

r. Ja

de c

him

ed in

, “An

d th

at is

whe

n w

e m

et! R

eid

knew

my

lab

had

crea

ted

som

e new

var

ietie

s of p

otat

o th

at w

ere r

eally

goo

d fo

r fry

ing.

” Br

ynn

inte

rrup

ted

by a

skin

g, “

Wha

t is a

var

iety

?”

Dr.

Jade

resp

onde

d, “

Gre

at q

uesti

on! I

t is a

spec

ifi c

type

of p

o-ta

to w

ith u

niqu

e ch

arac

teris

tics.”

Br

ynn

and

I bot

h lo

oked

at D

r. Ja

de w

ith b

lank

star

es.

My

dad

said

, “Th

ink

of it

this

way

, are

all

dogs

the

sam

e?”

Bryn

n sa

id, “

No.

” D

ad c

ontin

ued,

“R

ight

! Th e

y ca

n be

big

, litt

le, h

ave

diff e

rent

co

lors

, or h

ave s

hort

or l

ong

nose

s. W

e cat

egor

ize th

ese d

iff er

ence

s in

to b

reed

s. W

ith p

otat

oes,

they

cal

l th

ose

cate

gorie

s ba

sed

on