[There's another long pause as he takes that all in. And then he speaks, hesitantly:]

Um. I might be wrong about this, but...aren't those all things that kind of happen over long periods of time? Like the fresh water and food sort of thing. And this place really has only one strain of potato? Really?

Maybe we can get other strains of potatoes from other places...I mean, if they can get people here, I'm sure that getting a simple vegetable won't be at all that hard.