Nutritional Ignorance

On a bi-partisan basis:

The federal government has excluded only one fresh vegetable from the WIC program: the fresh white potato. This makes no sense and, in fact, ignores the latest nutritional science.

Because some people don’t differentiate between french fries and baked potatoes, the potato has gotten a bad rap. We believe a balance can be found that preserves the integrity of programs such as WIC while also ensuring that the most updated facts are being used to determine the best nutrients for Americans — including from the potato.

Sorry, senators, but this is nonsense. The problem with french fries isn’t the fat (particularly if it’s saturated fat, though unfortunately McDonalds got mau maued into ending the use of tallow decades ago): It’s the potatoes themselves, which are high glycemic.

4 thoughts on “Nutritional Ignorance”

  1. I’m confused as to your claim/take on this issue.

    Post headline: “Nutritional Ignorance” (on a bi-partisan basis)

    Article summary: Potatoes are not included in WIC, to the detriment of WIC participants; potatoes are a highly nutritious pood source.

    Closing statement: “The problem with french fries is … the potatoes themselves”.

    If the problem as you see it is potatoes, and potatoes are excluded by the government, how does that make the government ingorant or in conflict with your opinion? It appears that they agree with you, even if they took a different path to get there.

      1. Bingo, Rand. Even the link in their own article shows that a single potato has a whopping 63g of carbs, almost double the amount found in many candy bars. While I cannot imagine anything done by the USDA would have clean hands politically (and indeed the opposing view in USA Today documents how politics is already trumping the science regarding the USDA guidance for the potato), for the Senators to use such emotionally charged language throughout their opinion piece is pretty slimy.

      2. I didn’t notice that Senators Collins and Udall were the authors. The page rendering was so horrendous (and it never completed rendering all the way on my computer, either) that it was almost impossible to read the article at all. My bad.

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