Can potatoes still be seen as a vegetable? This is still officially the case in the United States, but that could soon change. However, fourteen prominent members of the Senate in Washington DC do not want the vegetable status of the crop to be compromised.
The senators wrote a letter on Thursday to Ministers Xavier Becerra of Health and Thomas Vilsack of Agriculture, in which they urge the government to leave the status of the potato unchanged. “There is no debate about the physical properties of the potato and its horticultural scientific classification,” the representatives warn.
The American health authorities, the potato lobby and members of the federal Congress in Washington DC have been bickering for years about the classification of the starchy food, which, among other things, determines the allocation of government subsidies.
According to data from the Department of Agriculture, Americans ate an average of 22 kilograms of potatoes per year in 2019, about half of which came in the form of frozen products such as French fries. Proponents of removing vegetables from the category speak of a public health issue; after all, according to them, four in ten adult Americans are overweight.
Confused
However, potatoes are “rich in potassium, calcium and vitamin C,” the American senators note in the letter. A change in classification would “confuse consumers, the catering industry and producers”, according to representatives from Idaho, Maine and Oregon, among others. These are states with important potato production.
In any case, a spokesperson for the US Department of Agriculture told the news website The Hill that there is no consideration of changing the classification. So the soup may not be eaten as hot when served.
The debate is reminiscent of President Ronald Reagan’s administration’s attempt to classify ketchup as a vegetable in American school lunches. However, public outrage soon caused the project to be shelved.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
Tags: American senators defend potato vegetables
