US Dehy Potatoes Help Feed The World's Hungry

US Dehy Potatoes Help Feed the World’s Hungry

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the U.S. Potato Update.

With nearly a billion food-insecure people on the planet, there is a definite need for Food Aid organizations to find nutritious, convenient, cost-effective and nonperishable food products.

TK Kuwahara, United States Potato Board International Marketing Manager for the Dehydrated Potato Program, shares more about an annual USPB workshop for private voluntary organizations to learn more about how dehy potatoes can benefit their feeding programs.

Kuwahara: “They were able to see planting and seed cutting operation. They saw how the potatoes were sorted through a fresh pack facility, how they were manufactured in the dehydrated processing facility. Then the moment where they can really see how dehy potatoes can really work in their programs is in the hands-on portion.”

The participates were given dehy potatoes, along with other ingredients and asked to create a recipe that would work in their countries.

Kuwahara: “Recently the International Partnership for Human Development has actually programed dehydrated potatoes in their school feeding program in Guinea Bissau and the Congo. So 980 metric tons of dehydrated potatoes have been purchased this year, and that is valued at almost $2 million dollars. So all of this is really net-new business and a new channel for the U.S. potato industry.”

This was the U.S. Potato Update brought to you by the United States Potato Board, maximizing return on grower investment. I’m KayDee Gilkey on the Northwest Ag Information Network.