Step 1 : Introduction to the question "what is the difference between yams and sweet potatoes"
...Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing. ... When softer sweet potatoes first hit the market in the US, growers needed a way to differentiate between the two. The soft sweet potatoes resembled African yams, so growers just started calling them yams. In reality, yams are much starchier and drier than sweet potatoes.
