Time to include the white potato in WIC

By Sen. Angus King
(I-Maine)

    Eat your vegetables. That’s what parents tell their children at dinner tables across America. And they do it because they want their children to grow up healthy and strong.
    But you know who’s not listening when it comes to one particular vegetable? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In fact, when the USDA expanded the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in 2009 to include fresh fruits and vegetables, the agency singled out one vegetable for exclusion – the white potato. To this day, the exclusion of the white potato from the package of foods available through WIC continues, and it’s not only a disservice to the young parents trying to feed themselves and their children, but it’s also an undeserving black eye for perfectly good potatoes and the hardworking farmers that grow and sell them.

    USDA says the exclusion is based on science, but the science they point to is outdated. The agency’s justification relies heavily on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which found that women and children were already eating enough starchy vegetables. These guidelines, unsurprisingly, are no longer current.
    In fact, we have much more recent science from someone right here in Maine. In 2010, Dr. Mary Ellen Camire, a Professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Maine with twenty-five years of research experience, said the justification for excluding potatoes was not valid.
    Dr. Camire outlined her research in a paper for the Journal of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, concluding that potatoes are a carbohydrate-rich, energy-providing food with little fat. She also pointed out that potatoes are particularly high in vitamin C, are a good source of several B vitamins and potassium, and contain a starch that is easily digestible and therefore makes it easier for children who eat them to obtain energy. Potatoes are also filling, so less is needed to feel satisfied.
    And, according to Dr. Camire, the current exclusion of fresh potatoes from WIC benefits denies nutritionally at-risk Americans from access to affordable, satiating, and nutritious food. Further, she concluded that the exclusion is based on a belief that Americans already eat a considerable amount of potatoes. However, most Americans do not consume enough fresh potatoes.
    But despite recent research from Dr. Camire and others, the USDA continues to lean on old science – and in doing so, the agency is essentially ignoring its own updated dietary guidelines from 2010. These updated guidelines, which were published by the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services, increased the recommended amount of starchy vegetables from 3 cups per week to 5 cups per week for a standard 2,000-calorie diet. Despite this more recent scientific recommendation to increase consumption of starchy vegetables like white potatoes, the USDA has not changed course.
    It’s far past time for the USDA to take another look at their own dietary guidelines, and remove the restrictions on parents who want to use WIC benefits to buy fresh white potatoes for themselves and their young children.
    The facts are plain: a fresh white potato is inexpensive, nutritious, delicious, and it should be an option for people who want it.