Originally published July 7 2005
Idaho governor torn between promoting potatoes or health
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Idaho is well-known for its potatoes, but Governor Dirk Kempthorne is between a rock and hard place over promoting potatoes -- used for french fries -- or promoting healthy nutrition for residents. Newsday reports he has settled on urging people to stay active.
"For Father's Day, I had a great big helping of mashed potatoes," declared the governor, who can be seen riding his mountain bike on a 45-minute loop near Idaho's capital city on summer evenings.
Speaking at a physical activity and nutrition summit this week, he noted that 59 percent of Idaho's 940,000 adults are overweight or obese and spend $227 million annually on weight-related medical care.
Kempthorne called for a renewed focus on exercise and proper nutrition.
But other experts at the conference said diet plays a role too.
"There's been an increase in calorie intake from poor-quality foods," said Joanne Ikeda, a dietitian from the University of California Berkeley's cooperative extension.
It has to be accompanied by an improvement in diet."
And all those Idaho potatoes -- a $2 billion industry -- make a big contribution to french fries, chips and greasy fried hash browns.
Almost two-thirds of each year's harvest is processed into fries and other frozen and dehydrated products, and sold to companies such as McDonald's and Burger King.
"The potato is a very healthy item," Ben Spaulding, a spokesman for the Potato Growers of Idaho.
Still, U.S. production of potatoes destined for the frozen french-fry market has risen eight-fold since 1960, to 57 pounds annually per person and now accounts for 41 percent of all potatoes grown in America, according to Agriculture Department statistics.
"People like fries with their sandwiches," said Joe Guenthner, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Idaho in Moscow and the author of the 2001 book "The International Potato Industry."
It's a matter of how much you eat."
That's also the message Kempthorne is delivering: People should eat potatoes, not be couch potatoes.
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