Potatoes! Everyone loves them, but did you know the great low carb boom of the 2000’s really threw a nice uppercut to the jaws of the potato farmers? Yeah potato farmers were not on board with this whole low carb business.
So now the Idaho Potato people are trying to figure out ways to make potatoes healthy again. And in actuality the potato is not the worst thing you can eat. Fact, the potato has more potassium than a banana (actually it has double). So take that fruit! YAY Potatoes!
There are four types of potatoes, Russet (high starch and fries crispy), Red (best when used fresh and it works well in potato salads), Fingerling(great as a side when they are roasted or sautéed) , and Gold (these are good for chips and resilient so they hold up well to being frozen or dehydrated).
The biggest consumer of Idaho potatoes in the US is New York, while some of the most popular exports are Mexico, the Philippines, and South Korea. Idaho grows 13 billion pounds of potatoes each year, which 94% of those potatoes being Russets.
The potato is gluten free so there’s another nutrition buzzword for you. It’s super versatile and it’s cheap. Now I don’t recommend that you start mainlining potatoes with butter and cheese, but I do recommend trying to incorporate potatoes into your meals.
