Idaho. Potatoes. They go together like French fries and ketchup. About one-third of U.S. potatoes are grown in the state dubbed, “The Potato Capital of the World.” And yet, as impossible as it may seem, it is getting harder and harder for Idaho farmers to make a living. In the early 1990s, there were 3,000 growers in Idaho; now only 600 farms remain.

Keith Epslin, of Blackfoot, grew up in a potato family: “My father, my brother, my sister, my grandparents all grew potatoes, at least going back to the 1940s or ‘50s.” But in 2000, after potato prices had been cut by more than half in only two years, Esplin had to give it up.

It’s not just the low-carb Atkins craze, either. Even though U.S. consumers aren’t eating fries at the rate they used to, potato imports from Canada have still increased eight-fold in the past decade, from $75.5 million in 1992 to $604 million in 2005.

What happened? After the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, Idaho’s $3.1 billion agribusiness giant, J.R. Simplot, decided to open potato processing plants in Canada. As a result, Simplot closed one of its oldest processing plants in Heyburn, laying off over 600 employees. Many workers had expected to work at the plant until retirement. In 2004, Simplot closed a comparably sized plant in Oregon.

Without those processing plants, Idaho farmers have been forced to significantly reduce their acreage. With skyrocketing fuel costs, it’s tough for potato farmers to make the numbers work. “It’s just part of life changing, I guess,” Epslin said.

Meanwhile, as Idaho farmers are struggling to get by, business is booming for the now global J.R. Simplot, whose fertilizer business profits from high gas prices. Things are so good that Simplot is expanding production all around the world and hopes to open a second potato processing plant in China soon. The company whose founder, Jack Simplot almost single-handedly made Idaho world famous for its spuds, is now turning his back on the state where Jack began as a family farmer more than 80 years ago.