Potato industry launches new ad campaign

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BOISE, Idaho, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- The Idaho Potato Commission is beginning a nationwide television ad campaign Monday touting the nutritional value of the spud.

The $2-million ad campaign will air in 20 cities across the country, the Idaho Statesman reported Saturday.

The ads will feature a close-up of the nutritional label from an anonymous food product with no fat, no cholesterol and no sodium. The label says it´s a good source of fiber and protein and has twice the potassium of a banana, the newspaper said.

As the camera zooms out, a steaming, cut-open Idaho baked potato is revealed. An announcer says, "You´ve always known how good they are. Now you know they´re good for you."

The new campaign is a direct strike against popular low-carb, high-protein diets like the Atkins diet that discourage people from eating potatoes.

If I were in the business of selling high-carb foods like potatoes or orange juice, I think I'd start making the association between such natural carbs and an active lifestyle with serious exercise. Maybe something like the old Budweiser commercial with the bike racers -- "Bring out your best -- with potatoes."

I mentioned this to my wife, and she said, "Email them and tell them your idea."

I replied, "Not unless they pay me."

She said, "Hey, maybe they'd pay you in potatoes!"

Very funny.

I don't know about the potato industry...But, the grain/legume industry could turn LC to their advantage. Think about it for a minute...a grain is composed of 3 main parts: Bran, Germ, and Endosperm. The endosperm is composed of two main parts: Starch and Protein (Gluten.) Wheat Gluten is used in quite a few LC Bread mixes. Oat and Wheat Bran/Fiber are used in some bake mixes and even in Ketatoes. Soy [in the form of Flour, Protein Isolate, or Protein Powder] is in quite a few LC Foods. Tofu is low in carbs and can be used in place of some HC Foods in certain recipes.

If the grain industry was smart, they'd stop fighting LC and focus on selling us the Bran, Germ, and Gluten of the Grain to LCers...They can sell the unused starch [which is the cheapest part of the grain anyways] for use in animal feeds. With the increase in meat consumption, there'd be an increased need for grain for animal feed. Animal feed can be made with the parts we don't want. And, since it takes several pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat...they could actually make more money by supporting LC.

In addition, if the Corn industry were really smart, they'd make Low-Glycemic Cornstarch available to the General Public [and I know it exists because it is in Atkins Bread Mix.] They could also start breeding Hi-Oleic Corn for its oil. The Sunflower industry should make Hi-Oleic Sunflower Seeds available to the General Public. The Oat industry should make Oat Fiber available to the General Public [it is already in 90% of Keto products.] These industries could really take advantage of this change in dietary habits...They are just not thinking clearly.

You know, one of the most embarrassing things about being a native Idahoan is the fact that 'Idaho potatoes' really stink! I kid you not--these are the worst-tasting potatoes a person would ever sink their teeth into! This is one of the reasons my family and I almost quit buying potatoes even before LC. Instead, we started eating rice, pasta and breads, and generally one can of instant potatoes that would last a couple of months.

And I agree--that agriculture industry needs to completely re-think their strategies. Just advertising potatoes isn't going to increase demand if people are headstrong LCers, and if others are like I was before they're just going to be going, 'Yeah, right! Give me a spud that tastes good and you'll have my money!'

Oh yeah--the non-LCers here in Idaho just loves buying these spuds that you have to trim away half, cut out the core rot, so on and so forth, before you can even cook them.

It would be even easier for fruit growers to take advantage of it...Simply take whatever fruit you grow and juice it...then turn the juice to Alcohol, remove the Alcohol and add Splenda...to make a Low/No-Sugar Fruit Juice. That is of course assuming they can remove the Alcohol [which I don't see why not...as they already remove all the liquids from some milks and orange juice to make dry powder.

You know...I was never a great fan of spuds before I started low carb. I ate them because they were cheap and filling, but honestly the only thing that made them taste good was the stuff I put ON 'em like butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon. Now, I get the butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon and don't have to choke down a dry potato along with them. I just put all that yummy stuff on cauliflower, broccoli or spinach instead.

Idaho russets suck. They taste like what they are: a lump of bland starch.

My mother used to buy these little yellow potatoes and make marvelous potato salad; the red ones are decent too especially with a roast. Someday I would like to find a nutrition/carb chart for these different varieties to see if some might be appropriate occasionally on maintenance.

I always liked Yukon Gold Potatoes for mashing.

my favorite ways to eat potatoes was to slice them into chips then fry them with onions then put 3 eggs on them and make a big potato onion omlette. That or potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream... but I can live without that lol.