Not yet in WIC

I recently did a story reporting on the fact that Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson’s language to include fresh potatoes in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program passed the House Appropriations Committee. The language was included in the Fiscal Year 2015 House Agriculture Appropriations bill. But that is only the first step in the long process of actually including potatoes in the WIC program. Both Houses have to approve potatoes and WIC. I called up Frank Muir, President and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission to see if he knew more. Frank is a great guy and we often have a laugh over politics. “Both of them have to pass through both the Senate and the House with a full vote before it becomes law. We are still not there yet. That is why I think Michelle Obama took out that full-page editorial saying that big agriculture is trying to do an end run around the parents. That's how she is positioning this. I have to be careful how I say my criticisms of what they are doing. Listen I’ll put in the criticisms, I already have. (Laughter) I just wanted to clarify that at this point it is an interim thing. I think they are included right now until they do a study but nothing has changed since you and I last spoke. To me, adding potatoes to WIC has never been about increasing volume. In fact, we don’t even sit down and try and calculate it. It is about sending the right message about the true nutritional value of potatoes. Listen, you need to run for president. (Laughter) No. Not if you have to do what they do. (Laughter)