Posted on 12/28/2023 2:46:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
The National Potato Council isn't happy about this potential change.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, when Americans eat vegetables, they’re mostly eating potatoes and tomatoes. In 2019, the average American downed almost 50 pounds of potatoes over the course of the year, and ate around 31 pounds of tomatoes — and it’s not totally surprising that French fries and pizza sauce significantly contributed to our annual totals. But in the future, when the USDA starts adding up our yearly veggie totals, tomatoes may take the top spot on a technicality. Because there’s a chance that the agency will reclassify potatoes, moving them from starchy vegetables into the same category as grains, rice, and other carbs.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee — made up of representatives from the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services — are putting together their dietary guidelines for 2025, and potatoes may be reshuffled. The dietary guidelines put foods into five familiar categories — dairy, fruit, grains, protein, and vegetables — but the increasing prevalence of different diets and “eating patterns” mean that those categories may be changed. “The panel wants to make sure everyone is getting enough nutrients, whether eating more potatoes, bread, or beans,” the Journal explains.
It should be noted that the trade groups on both sides of the potential new classification neither — the National Potato Council and The Grain Chain — are both opposed to potatoes being defined as anything but a vegetable. Kam Quarles, the CEO of the National Potato Council, testified during a hearing of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and he basically asked them to leave potatoes where they are.
“While NPC is sensitive to individual needs and cultures, we urge the Committee to recognize [that] a potato is not a grain,” he said. “Potatoes are the most widely produced vegetable in the U.S.Starchy vegetables and grains are two vastly different food groups that play distinctly different roles in contributing nutrients to the diet. Unlike grains, white potatoes are a strong contributor of potassium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and fiber. Research shows that diets high in vegetable consumption, including potatoes, promote healthy outcomes overall.”
He acknowledged that Americans should consume more vegetables — non-potato vegetables — but he doesn’t think that recategorizing potatoes is the answer. “The suggestion to reclassify potatoes as a non-vegetable is not grounded in any scientific metric,” he continued. “This unsupported notion, if acted upon, will confuse consumers, could result in nutrient gaps and also decreased vegetable consumption. We ask the Committee to avoid this chaotic outcome and continue to acknowledge the fact that potatoes are a vegetable.”
The Grain Chain was equally adamant, telling the committee that putting potatoes in their category “could further exacerbate nutrient shortfalls.” (Both groups agree that potatoes should stay put.)
We’ll see which side wins when the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee releases its 2025 guidelines. Until then, keep eating your vegetables. And your potatoes.
A potato is a potato, why not ask the potato what it wants to be?
That’s how F’d up society has become.
First, they take Pluto, then they take our beef, now they want to take our potatoes, too?
My cardiologist had the gall to tell me a hostess fruit pie is not a serving of fruit.
I have a salad everyday.
(He’s been with the world)
I’m tired of the soup du jour
(He’s been with the world)
I wanna end this prophylactic tour
Afraid that no-one around me
Understands my potato
Think I’m only a spud boy
Looking for a real tomato
-DEVO (Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA)
Well, don’t you always choose what to order off of the menu based on how the FDA categorizes it? A baked potato just won’t be the same anymore...
so is Obama
yet you posted anyways
No, that’s a POTATUS.
I don’t care what they are classified as.
I love them.
It’s important, because the latest dietary advice is: decrease grains and increase vegetables.
Potatoes affect your body just like grains, because (like grains) they are mostly carbs.
Government classifications are used by institutions like hospitals and nursing homes. If potatoes are classified as vegetables, then it could blow up any diets in those institutions that are trying to reduce carbs with a veggie based diet.
Tell the government to stay out of my kitchen. We're not stupid people.
And I'm not a rabbit...AND...these teeth are made for chewing...like a great big Porterhouse...
When I was single, that was my favorite meal.
“Still, not a good option for diabetics or pre-diabetics.”
Two years ago my glucose number was 108 so I went on a NO-carb diet. Six months later, I had lost 25 pounds, but glucose number was 104. I had expected much lower.
So I figured, what the heck, and went back to my regular eating, potatoes being my favorite food. Blood test six month later, glucose down to 95. It made no sense. (Gained about 5 pounds back.)
“They are not a grain.
“They are a vegetable.”
You dare defy the government? There’ll be an ominous knock on your door some day. Or maybe they won’t knock, but just bust in.
Fried in a pan, or a deep fryer?
In a pan...with a little oil...I use Olive Oil cuz that’s all I buy.
Vegetables are gross, but you eat them because they tell you to for your own good.
Nobody has to tell you to eat a potato.
I was eating nothing but potatoe skins whenever ordering out. I told my wife it’s the new Patatoe Skin Diet you havent heard about.
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