Never Stop Never Stopping: Potatoes Take Off, Again
NPC has been standing-up for potatoes with Capitol Hill as 14 U.S. Senators rally behind Big Potato
Introduction
Jimmy Fallon talks potatoes on the Tonight Show (Source: YouTube)
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has floated the notion that the potato -- a vegetable -- be moved into a broader category of grain along with rice, bread, and others. The National Potato Council, backed by nutrition research and 14 Senators, has pushed back. Before we dive into those numbers though, what's the big deal?
The Work
Not only is the potato a vegetable horticulturally and biologically, but it is also an economic and nutritional powerhouse for the U.S. The industry generates over $100 BILLION in GDP annually and supports 714,000 American jobs. They are calorie-dense, gluten, fat, and sodium-free, high in protein, essential amino acids, potassium, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. Not even Iron Mike has a one-two punch quite like that.
This reclassification would wreak havoc on not just our economy, but our education system and youth. The potato is an affordable and nutritious vegetable schools feed to our children daily. This reclassification would force schools into less affordable vegetable alternatives that would ruin potato growers and the other 714,000 workers across the supply chain and school budgets. Everybody loses.
READ MORE: Potatoes Across the Pond: NPC Featured in The Times of London Amidst Talks to Reclassify the Spud — Evocati PR
Led by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), 14 U.S. Senators signed a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in opposition to any reclassification of potatoes as a grain instead of a vegetable. Read the full letter here.
Which leads us to...
Media, Media Everywhere
Jimmy Fallon talks potatoes. at 1:30 (Source: YouTube)
America loves a good potato story, but what's better than a good potato story? 670 of them.
That's right, over the last 14 days, we've seen 670 print/digital, broadcast, and radio stories covering this potential reclassification. Those 670 features compiled a total potential reach of more than 1B and an advertising value equivalent of $9.7M.
Yahoo! News, the Daily Mail, Salon.com, and AOL News have all pushed multiple features, but it gets better, as Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show even covered the story in a segment.
It's hard to cover all this media in one blog post, so stay tuned for much more on the issue and the disastrous impact this reclassification could inflict on the United States economy, our kids, and rural communities.
More on America's Favorite vegetable coming soon.