20 Potatoes A Day

20 Potatoes A Day. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Chris Voight is a man out to prove something. Like the man who lived only on fast food for 30 days and nearly wrecked his health, Voight intends to prove that a diet of only potatoes is good for you. VOIGHT: I think this is really kind of an effort to try to draw some public attention to the nutritional benefits of potatoes. And what's really kind of motivating this is – you know I know that the potato has kind of suffered, it's image has suffered over the years and I think a lot of it has to do with just people have forgotten how nutritious they are but what's really been kind of disturbing to me is that now the government is stepping in. Recently the government decided to not include potatoes as part of the WIC nutrition program. VOIGHT: They're certainly trying to restrict the consumption of potatoes to certain target audiences and that's concerning when all of a sudden you have a government who's supposed to be full of scientists and making good decisions really kind of showing a prejudice or misunderstanding of the potatoes. Voight has come up with a plan to show that the potato is really a powerhouse when it comes to foods. VOIGHT: So what I'm doing is I'm going on a diet for 60 days straight of where I am only going to eat potatoes. About 20 potatoes a day. No chili on them, no cheese, no sour cream, no gravy, no butter. Just simply potatoes and some seasoning – some herbs or seasoning. Something that's not necessarily going to add any nutritional value The great experiment starts on October 1st and will end on November 29th which a quick look at the calendar shows includes everyone's favorite eating holiday...Thanksgiving. VOIGHT: Actually Thanksgiving is kind of a huge family event for us but my sister, we always go over to her house and she has promised me she's just going to make some of the most enticing potato meals using just herbs and seasoning so we'll see how she does. The potato took a major hit a few years ago when the hugely popular Adkins Diet proclaimed it a major no-no as a carb culprit and few people took the time to find out that actually a potato has just 110 calories, nearly half your daily vitamin D and is an excellent source of potassium and fiber.You can follow along with the 20 Potato a day program at their new website, www.20potatoesaday.com where Voight will be blogging his experiences and presenting some interesting videos to highlight to power of potatoes. More tomorrow. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.