Food Fight and Potatoes Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Instead of removing potatoes from the vegetable category, it appears recently proposed changes in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans have swung a different direction and are now focused on their starch content.
Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council says it’s a different but still misguided approach …
QUARLES … “They started the process with the notion that they could either entirely reclassify potatoes out of the vegetable category or make them interchangeable with grains.”
Either way, Quarles says it’s a kind of “exotic” conclusion …
QUARLES … “Fortunately, as you said, they discarded that notion, but they also landed in another bizarre place which is, for a country that does not eat enough vegetables, one of their recommendations, and granted these are just draft recommendations, but one of their recommendations is to eat fewer vegetables.”
And their new approach, Quarles says ignores the advantages …
QUARLES … “As you said, they’ve concentrated their ideas around the starch that exists in potatoes. They’ve discarded all of the other nutritional benefits and just focused on this one, this one factor.”
The recommendations also proposed moving “meats, poultry, eggs” to the last group listed in the protein category.
Tune in tomorrow for more.
