The Full Story of the Jerusalem Artichoke Scandal
                                
                                
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                                    4 min read                                
                            
                                In the early 1980s, during a severe farm crisis, desperation drove thousands of Midwestern farmers to invest over $25 million into a bogus agricultural enterprise centered on a little-known tuber. This was the infamous Jerusalem artichoke scandal, a bizarre and devastating Ponzi scheme that promised energy independence but delivered only financial ruin.