After weathering the patriotic fervor that led to "freedom fries" when France opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the humble spud is now getting mashed for its effect on the school lunch program.
In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the National School Lunch Program, proposed changes in nutritional standards that would limit the amount of starchy vegetables -- white potatoes, corn, green peas and lima beans -- to no more than a cup a week. The proposal would have required that lunch programs offer at least half a cup a week of dark green and orange vegetables and legumes such as dry beans. But on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate, led by Maine's Susan Collins, blocked the move.
The USDA isn't anti-potato, says Margo Wootan of the health-advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, which favored the proposal. The agency just wanted to encourage kids to expand their vegetable horizons beyond french fries. A USDA study in 2007 found 75% of the vegetables kids eat as part of school lunch are starchy vegetables, and fries are the top choice, she says.
Potatoes fill in for other vegetables
"Kids are under-consuming vegetables considerably, and when they do eat vegetables, they're all too often starchy vegetables, like potatoes," she says. "Potatoes have a place in kids' diets, but it's about making room for other vegetables."
The potato industry had mounted a campaign to promote potatoes as child-approved, healthful, versatile and inexpensive.
"If you kick them out of the school lunch program, you eliminate the most cost-effective way of delivering potassium and dietary fiber, and you take a chance on whether kids are going to eat other vegetables or just toss them out," says Jeff Nedelman of the Alliance for Potato Research and Education.
Some scientists agree. "Potatoes get a bad rap, and unjustly so," says University of Scranton chemistry professor Joe Vinson. His research suggests potatoes may have hidden health benefits. At a meeting of the American Chemical Society in September, he presented data on a pilot study involving 18 patients with high blood pressure. He reported that those who ate two purple potatoes a day, cooked in a microwave oven, experienced a drop in blood pressure of 3%-4%.
That makes sense, says Mary Ellen Camire, director of food science at the University of Maine and a spokeswoman for the Institute of Food Technologists. Potatoes are rich in potassium, which has a kind of anti-salt effect, she says. "Too much sodium increases blood pressure, and sodium and potassium are agonists," she says. "They balance each other."
By eating potatoes with purple skins (which can be found at farmers markets and some stores), participants got a dose of anthocyanin, a compound also found in blueberries and grapes that has the effect of relaxing blood vessels. "It's the same way blood pressure medicines work," she says.
How you cook them makes a difference
The devil, Vinson says, is in the cooking. "There's a world of difference" between potatoes that are boiled or baked and those that are fried in hot oil, which adds fat and reduces nutrients, he says.
Jessie Price, food editor at Eating Well magazine, says the potatoes' bad rep is not their fault. "People think of them as mashed, in which you throw a stick of butter, or fried, swimming in oil, and lots of salt. Then the low-carb thing came along," sending dieters fleeing, she says. "Now, people are overcoming their carb fears and coming back."
Preparing them healthfully requires no magic, she says. "Toss them with a bit of olive oil and roast them in the oven. They come out crispy and delicious. There's not as much oil, and you can use spices and not as much salt. You can do oven fries and not miss french fries." Or, for mashed potatoes, go light on the salt and butter, use skim milk or low-fat plain yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream instead of whole milk or cream.
It's worth the effort to seek out a farmers market or grocery store that stocks locally grown varieties. Fresh potatoes taste better, she says. "It's a texture thing. They're snappy, almost buttery and appley."
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