Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1271528
WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 21 N IDAHO 208.733.7000 WASHINGTON 509.349.7000 COLORADO 719.850.7783 Since 1960 4079-6AgriStorCorp13s.indd 1 4079-6AgriStorCorp13s.indd 1 6/29/20 9:39 AM 6/29/20 9:39 AM 4078-9AmericanNewlong13s.indd 1 4078-9AmericanNewlong13s.indd 1 6/1/20 4:31 PM 6/1/20 4:31 PM model—and many others like it—include the potato as an afterthought, if at all. But that becomes a pretty tough claim to make the moment data enter the fray. In both per-capita consumption and availability, the potato is clearly a prominent staple in the Mediterranean region, and in some cases, it's eaten in greater quantities than in the countries we tend to think of as potato-centric. The most recent census data shows that in the U.S., Japan and Mexico, per-capita daily consumption clocks in at 85, 39 and 28 kilocalories per day, respectively. If these seem like decently sized volumes, consider that potato consumption rates of four core Mediterranean states— Morocco, Greece, Spain and Portugal— are, in turn, 94, 102, 103, and 122 kilocalories. That's as close to objective as evidence gets that, in the geographic cradle of healthy eating, potatoes are as alive and well as ever. For years, diets have governed over the landscape of consumption with an iron fist. For the health-conscious, the worry lingers: What if I chose the lesser of two options? Even when the labels look identical to our naked eye, they're not. It comes as little surprise, then, that experts are predicting 2020 as the year that consumers finally rise up and rebel against ascetic eating regimens. A January 2020 article in Business Insider reported on a recent poll that revealed a majority of Americans were leaning toward "intuitive eating," which, in contrast to the hard and fast laws of a diet, offers only general guidelines like "honor your hunger" and "feel your fullness." And a growing body of research suggests that intuitive eating elevates self-confidence, psychological resilience, and even exercise habits to a greater extent than standard diets. These are anxious times. We're forging ahead into a new decade with everything from trade relationships to entire economies cast in uncertainty and unease. The potato, as the ultimate comfort food, offers us needed respite. We shouldn't have to call upon obscure metrics to prove the potato's worth in the modern era. In the end, the capacity of the potato to provide physical and emotional fulfillment speaks for itself. Ben Harris is the research associate manager, and John Toaspern the chief marketing officer of Potatoes USA.