Posted on 12/28/2023 2:46:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
The National Potato Council isn't happy about this potential change.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, when Americans eat vegetables, they’re mostly eating potatoes and tomatoes. In 2019, the average American downed almost 50 pounds of potatoes over the course of the year, and ate around 31 pounds of tomatoes — and it’s not totally surprising that French fries and pizza sauce significantly contributed to our annual totals. But in the future, when the USDA starts adding up our yearly veggie totals, tomatoes may take the top spot on a technicality. Because there’s a chance that the agency will reclassify potatoes, moving them from starchy vegetables into the same category as grains, rice, and other carbs.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee — made up of representatives from the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services — are putting together their dietary guidelines for 2025, and potatoes may be reshuffled. The dietary guidelines put foods into five familiar categories — dairy, fruit, grains, protein, and vegetables — but the increasing prevalence of different diets and “eating patterns” mean that those categories may be changed. “The panel wants to make sure everyone is getting enough nutrients, whether eating more potatoes, bread, or beans,” the Journal explains.
It should be noted that the trade groups on both sides of the potential new classification neither — the National Potato Council and The Grain Chain — are both opposed to potatoes being defined as anything but a vegetable. Kam Quarles, the CEO of the National Potato Council, testified during a hearing of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and he basically asked them to leave potatoes where they are.
“While NPC is sensitive to individual needs and cultures, we urge the Committee to recognize [that] a potato is not a grain,” he said. “Potatoes are the most widely produced vegetable in the U.S.Starchy vegetables and grains are two vastly different food groups that play distinctly different roles in contributing nutrients to the diet. Unlike grains, white potatoes are a strong contributor of potassium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and fiber. Research shows that diets high in vegetable consumption, including potatoes, promote healthy outcomes overall.”
He acknowledged that Americans should consume more vegetables — non-potato vegetables — but he doesn’t think that recategorizing potatoes is the answer. “The suggestion to reclassify potatoes as a non-vegetable is not grounded in any scientific metric,” he continued. “This unsupported notion, if acted upon, will confuse consumers, could result in nutrient gaps and also decreased vegetable consumption. We ask the Committee to avoid this chaotic outcome and continue to acknowledge the fact that potatoes are a vegetable.”
The Grain Chain was equally adamant, telling the committee that putting potatoes in their category “could further exacerbate nutrient shortfalls.” (Both groups agree that potatoes should stay put.)
We’ll see which side wins when the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee releases its 2025 guidelines. Until then, keep eating your vegetables. And your potatoes.
“He acknowledged that Americans should consume more vegetables — non-potato vegetables — but he doesn’t think that recategorizing potatoes is the answer. “The suggestion to reclassify potatoes as a non-vegetable is not grounded in any scientific metric,” he continued.”
The same deranged mentality that says men can be women and women can be men want to re-classify fruits to vegetables and vegetables to fruits.
Call Any Vegetable - The Mothers Of Invention
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhDXbElN1oY
“Tomato is a fruit.”
So is 95% of democrats.
tomato is a fruit but the moe-ron’s trying to reclassify potatoes are nuts!
Not good for diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
Starch turns into glucose in an instant.
Most of the nutrients are in the skins.
I love potatoes *and* tomatoes and I’ll eat them whatever they’re called.
I never turned my back on Pluto, and I damn-well won’t turn my back on Potato! SOB’s...
There is an old joke that goes something like this.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
Raw potato skins tossed in olive oil and put in the oven on a cookie sheet until fairly crisp makes a great snack .
….
None of the government’s damn business what I eat.
This is Orwellian culinary garbage.
It’s only renaming the things! Doesn’t change what they are.
Maybe the spuds will transition over and “identify” as vegetables and force everyone to stop “misvegging” them.
Decades ago, dieticianists complained about hamburger & fries meals.
Later, some clinicians studied the meal and found it to be basically healthy — having several of the recommended healthy food groups.
This is just more leftist craziness.
You people are not eating the vegetables we want you to, so we are going to reclassify what you do like to eat.
Knowing that tomato is a fruit is knowledge. Knowing to not put tomato in fruit salads is wisdom.
Sounds like a 500 person department...
"Poh-tay-toe, Puh-tah-toe...It is NOT a vegetable!"
The USDA does some good things such as food safety inspections.
But the spirit of controlling f**king everything needs to be rooted out just as in all parts of government.
I dated a nice tomato in high school. Definitely a vegetable.
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