9-8 IAN French Fries

 The much maligned French fry. After hearing about the USDA’s replacement of the food pyramid with the plate along with little mention of the potato I called the President of the Idaho Potato Commission,  Frank Muir,  and had a chat. “French fries one of the things that we are still frustrated with the USDA  is on the one hand, they include potatoes as what should be in every American’s diet with their new plate program, on the other hand potatoes are the only vegetable or fruit excluded from the WIC  program which feeds those mother’s infants and children most at risk for not getting the proper nutrition and also the USDA is trying to limit the use of potatoes in school lunches, eliminating it completely from breakfast. What that will do is it will actually decrease the nutrition that children are getting and it will increase the cost of school lunches. This is the exact opposite of what the stated program is supposed to do. We are hoping that one side of the USDA will talk to the other side of the USDA and educate those people over WIC  and school lunches that yes potatoes should be part of every American’s diet. People point to the French fry as what is wrong with America’s diet. I don’t care if it is fried onions, zucchini, or pickles they are all less nutritious than  if you eat them raw or as cooked. Potatoes just happened to be incredibly tasty when cooked as a French fry.