In 1996, potato production peaked in the United States. Americans ate 64 pounds of potatoes per year, more than at any time since modern records began in 1970. The record-breaking harvest created so many potatoes in the country that the government had to pay farmers to ration them. At the White House, the Clintons foisted potatoes (fried, marinated, boiled, garlicky) on princesses and presidents at state dinners.
“It was a crazy time,” says Chris Voight, whose long career as a potato advocate began during the potato boom of the late 1990s. “You could literally buy a bucket of fries.” But by the time Voight rose through the potato industry, rising to executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, the American potato had experienced a dramatic change in fortunes.
The average American now eats 30 percent fewer potatoes than in the vegetable’s heyday, at an all-time low of 45 pounds per year. Consumption of raw potatoes – boiled, baked, mashed, or steamed – has fallen even faster. Consumption of frozen potatoes surpassed fresh potatoes for the first time in 2019, and the gap has continued to widen since the pandemic. Most frozen potatoes are eaten as french fries.
This has turned the potato field into a battleground for the future of food in America. Subject to change A proposal to follow the British example and remove the potato from the vegetable list caused such an uproar that US Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack was forced to write a letter. Reassuring Senators His agency had no such plans.
The reclassification may have been a failure, but the potato has fallen spectacularly short. Once a nutritious miracle vegetable that powered human civilization, the potato has now become synonymous in the United States with a trashy, industrialized food system that funnels profits to a handful of corporations at the expense of people’s health.
America’s favorite vegetable is having its Sophie’s Choice moment. Should we accept that the fresh potato has been lost to French fries, hash browns, and waffles, or is there hope for the potato’s comeback? Can the humble potato make the comeback it deserves?
White Potatoes Potatoes are a criminally underrated food. Compared to carb-heavy staples like pasta, white bread, and rice, potatoes are high in Vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. They’re also surprisingly high in protein; if you met your daily calorie goal by eating only potatoes, you’d also exceed your daily protein goal of 56 grams for a man ages 31-50.
Chris Voight knows this because in 2010, he ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days, along with a little oil and, once, pickle juice. But it’s important to note that Voight didn’t survive on potatoes for two months. ProsperousBy the end of the diet, Voight had lost 21 pounds, his cholesterol had dropped by 41 percent, and his snoring had stopped. “I’ve personally proven that potatoes are nutritious no matter how you eat them, whether they’re boiled, fried, oven-cooked or steamed,” Voight says.
