These are troubling times for our favorite tuber as low-carb diners drop it from their diets.
By JANET K. KEELER
Published March 17, 2004
"There's got to be a balance in your life. If you don't have that, don't blame the potato." - Chef Marcus Samuelsson of New York's Aquavit restaurant.
Blame the potato? We are downright shunning the tuber that has nourished humans for generations. The source of the evil french fry is being heaped with disgust by a population desperate to squeeze into size 8 low-rises.
Samuelsson, interviewed last fall for a story in the New York Times Magazine, was asked if carbphobia made him look differently at rice and potatoes. "Potatoes and rice have been the bulk of our food for thousands of years. But in 2003 it became a problem? Come on," he said.
We've got news for Samuelsson: The potato is going to get kicked around some more before the pendulum swings back. Some day we will again say, "It's not the potato that's bad; it's the stuff you put on it." Today, though, the popular trend is to eat the high-fat, low-carb sour cream, butter and cheese but leave the no-fat, high-carb potato behind.
On this St. Patrick's Day, when corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes will be on the plates of many Americans, it's timely to note the potato's trouble. Sales have dipped so far that the U.S. Potato Board has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to overcome the starchy vegetable's image as the enemy of taut tummies. Ads that give the "skinny" on potatoes are being run in newspapers and magazines.
"I would call it more than a slowdown," says Dennis Cole, produce director for the 40-store Fresh Market chain, which has outlets in Clearwater and Tampa. "Over the past few years, potato sales are down 25 percent. Of course, I blame it on the low-carb Atkins diet. Bacon sales, however, are through the roof."
South Tampa's Whaley's Market, which like Fresh Market offers a wide selection of potatoes, including the gourmet purple variety, has also noticed a downturn in sales.
"We definitely haven't sold as much as we used to," Edward Rodriguez, a produce manager, says. That said, the store goes through 500 pounds a day through sales and its deli.
The low-carb craze is surely the biggest reason for the potato's falling status, but it is not the only factor. The rise in popularity of potatoless cuisines, such as Asian and Mexican, plays a role, as does continued education about the unhealthfulness of fast food.
The Potato Board reports a 4 percent decline in french fry consumption, by far the most popular way Americans eat potatoes. Overall, at-home potato consumption dropped nearly 25 percent from 1990 to 2000.
And if the low-carb craze isn't enough to turn potato farmers to soy beans, the potato sits near the top of the controversial glycemic index. The index was developed in the 1970s as a way to rank foods by how they affect blood-sugar levels.
For instance, black beans break down slowly, releasing carbs into the system over a few hours. This ranks them low on the index. Potatoes work the opposite: Their carbs spill into the bloodstream quickly. Some think this quick release makes us hungry sooner and ultimately fatter.
The concept of the glycemic index is important to diabetics in controlling their blood sugar. The American Diabetes Association reports there are 18-million diabetics in the United States, but 5-million of those are undiagnosed. The rapid rise in the disease has been called an epidemic.
Sweet potatoes have less carbs, and some dietitians suggest that diabetics turn to them when they need a potato fix. Though they share a name, sweet potatoes and potatoes don't have the same botanical bloodlines. Sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family; potatoes are relatives of nightshade.
Because the potato was king for so long, it didn't need a public relations agent. Sunday dinner usually meant mashed potatoes. Meat-and-potato men were solid guys. You could prepare versatile potatoes every night for a month and never eat them the same way twice.
We didn't think much about nutrition, but we knew potatoes were yummy, filling and satisfying. "For me, a plain baked potato is the most delicious one. . . . It is soothing and enough," legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher once said. For years, no one argued.
But a study by the Potato Board has found that few people know a 5.3-ounce, skin-on potato has as much vitamin C as equal amounts of banana, broccoli and spinach. That potato also provides a healthy dose of fiber and potassium. One hundred calories, no fat. It's downfall in the new millennium? Twenty-six carb grams. (The early phase of the Atkins diet allows 20 carbs a day.)
A 5.3-ounce potato. Next time you're at the grocery store, try to find a russet that small. You'll have to root about the bin because most are the size of loaves of bread. The multipound bags of potatoes will contain some smaller versions, but you may not want that many.
Another reason to blame the potato, it seems.
- Information from the Seattle Times was used in this report.
