Potatoes R Vegetables Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. There are some activists who are working to undermine the scientific fact, that potatoes are a vegetable, by trying to change their classification to a grain in the 2025 Dietary Guidelines.
National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles says that’s news to him …
QUARLES … “Well, certainly the scientists didn’t know that, and the horticulturalists, the botanists, all of the experts at the Department of Agriculture didn’t realize that.”
Beth Johnson, CEO at Food Directions, isn’t sure why it’s even a question …
JOHNSON … “I personally think it should be cut-and-dried. It surprises me that a scientific committee would be putting this out. I think that some of it spans around a desire to meet cultural needs.”
Johnson understands that some people will substitute potatoes for rice or pasta …
JOHNSON … “But that’s very different than saying scientifically and questioning at all whether potatoes are a vegetable. Yes, they’re a vegetable and from a scientific process standpoint that’s how they should be looked at.”
Johnson says a decision will be made fairly soon …
JOHNSON … “The Dietary Guidelines are reviewed and updated every five years. So we are in the throes, getting towards the end of the 2025 update.”
Quarles says the numbers show, potatoes are America’s favorite vegetable.
