8-12 FB Breaking Potato News

 What is it about the potato that causes it to be so maligned?

At one period in history, there was a famine in Ireland. During the famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%.The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight.  Could this be the reason that the potato seems to be the whipping boy of the media?  Someone is always calling out spuds for producing obesity in America.  I turned to , Executive Director of the Idaho Potato Commission, Frank Muir  for answers: “ Why is it that people keep beating up on the potato?  It’s hard to explain. History stands on the side of the potato. If you look back through a variety of cultures and societies, potatoes always served an important nutritional role for societies to grow and to develop and to move across continents. So why has it become a whipping boy today is anybody’s guess. I think the simplest reason is controversy. If there is some study that says soda leads to weight gain, ho-hum. If you attack a vegetable that is breaking news.