Dietary Guidelines and Potatoes
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The new Dietary Guidelines released by the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services are being well received by most in the ag industry.
National Potato Council CEO, Kam Quarles says it’s amazing how far the potato has come, considering where it was headed under recent administrations …
QUARLES … “If you look back several administrations ago, under the Obama administration, they were trying to severely limit or just outright exclude potatoes from places like the school meals programs. Well, fast forward to the present time, this new Dietary Guidelines infographic has potatoes right in the center of it, encouraging folks to eat more potatoes. That’s a great thing.”
The new guidelines, Quarles says are much less confusing …
QUARLES … “I think they vastly simplified the process. Again, take it back to, you know, a couple of years ago, we were actively involved in that big battle with the Biden administration simply about whether or not potatoes were going to remain classified as a vegetable or going to get shoved into the grains category.”
But now, Quarles says we’re using a more common-sense approach …
QUARLES … “Clearly, that worked out in our favor. You have to give a ton of credit to the administration for taking that step and really celebrating that whole form of potatoes.”
Again, that is Kam Quarles, CEO at the National Potato Council.
