North Dakota is mainly a farm state. That is where many of the potatoes are grown. The place was a gigantic potato farm and the processing facility to grade the potatoes.

On the taste however, you may check on the taste of the chemicals which are added to the oil for frying or added chemically in large vats where a chemical penetrates the already sliced pieces. What are the chemicals used by each business concern to get the specific taste of the particular brands.

I can see that you are terribly naïve concerning how this society operates. Civilization is not as simply as it seems.