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Thread: Congress puts potatoes on menu for low-income moms

  1. #1

    Congress puts potatoes on menu for low-income moms

    WASHINGTON (AP) - It's another political victory for the popular potato.

    For the first time, low-income women would be able to pay for white potatoes with government-subsidized vouchers issued by the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, known as WIC.

    The potato provision is part of a massive spending bill Congress is considering before the end of the year.

    White potatoes have been excluded from WIC since fruits and vegetables were first allowed under the program in 2009. It's not that white potatoes themselves aren't nutritious, but they're often used to make french fries, which are usually fried or baked in unhealthy fats and oils.

    The Institute of Medicine had recommended that they be excluded, saying WIC recipients already eat enough white potatoes.

    The potato industry has aggressively lobbied for inclusion, saying it's not as much about sales as the perception that potatoes aren't as nutritious as other vegetables. Lawmakers from roughly 40 potato-growing states have been pushing for several years to include the potato in the program.

    The potato's advocates argue that it provides potassium, dietary fiber and folate, a water-soluble B vitamin, which can be helpful for pregnant women. They say it is also economical, which could help low-income mothers stretch their dollars.

    Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from the potato-growing state of Maine, has long promoted the nutritional attributes of potatoes, including potassium.

    "Potatoes are cholesterol-free, fat-free and sodium-free and can be prepared in countless healthy ways," she said in a statement Wednesday.

    The potato industry had another major legislative victory in 2011, when Congress voted to thwart the Agriculture Department's recommendation that only two servings a week of potatoes and other starchy vegetables be served in federally subsidized school lunches. The USDA effort was an attempt to limit the proliferation of french fries on school lunch lines.

    WIC provides grants to states to provide food vouchers to low-income pregnant women, women who have recently given birth and infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk. Only a handful of foods meant to boost nutrition are allowed, such as whole grains, low-fat dairy and fruits and vegetables.

    Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has opposed efforts to add white potatoes to WIC, but he said in a letter to a member of Congress earlier this year that USDA would move up a regular review of the WIC food package by more than a year so the department could seek the assistance of the institute to learn if excluding white potatoes "is still supported by the most current science available."

    That review by the institute, which advises the government on health matters, is already underway.

    At an event Thursday, Vilsack again deferred to the institute's recommendations. "When it comes to children's health, I've got much more confidence in pediatricians than politicians," he said.

    WIC supporters say Congress shouldn't meddle in the program, which has always been based on the institute's recommendations and isn't supposed to be political.

    "This opens the door for other corporate interests to press their priorities over the integrity of the food packages," said Douglas Greenaway of the National WIC Association.
    Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/27601576/...#ixzz3LdRdHKHO



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  3. #2
    There are only 3 types of carbohydrates, sugars, starches, and fiber. Potatoes contain starch, which is non-poisonous. The fructose in fruit sugar is toxic to the liver. And fiber is a completely indigestible and dehydrating irritant to the digestive system. Since WIC promotes a low fat, high carb diet, against all scientific reasoning, they should have no problem with potatoes.
    Member of Ron Paul Forums Double Flat Tariff Only Society - Working towards eliminating all the foreign producer/outsource subsidizing internal federal taxes in favor of an across the board flat tariff applied equally to every country and every product.

  4. #3
    ...has it come down to begging for food? (French Fries no less.)

  5. #4
    Meh. They're probably just looking for a government means to establish those new gmo potatoes that just came along.
    Last edited by Natural Citizen; 12-11-2014 at 06:51 PM.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Natural Citizen View Post
    Meh. They're probably just looking for a government means to establish those new gmo potatoes that just came along.
    That was my first thought. The bait and switch. Even McDonald's rejected the GMO potatoes.
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by donnay View Post
    That was my first thought. The bait and switch. Even McDonald's rejected the GMO potatoes.
    Feed the poor. FTW!

    Hadn't heard about McDonalds, though.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Natural Citizen View Post
    Feed the poor. FTW!

    Hadn't heard about McDonalds, though.
    McDonald's is already losing money hand over fist because people are simply not eating fast food anymore.

    Also this information that came out three days ago: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdon...ecline-2014-12


    McDonald's rejects GMO potatoes
    http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/...-gmo-potatoes/

    McDonald's rejects Simplot's genetically modified potato
    http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/1...-gmo.html?rh=1

    McDonald’s Refuses To Buy GM Potatoes For Its Fries
    http://modernfarmer.com/2014/11/mcdo...otatoes-fries/
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

  9. #8
    Food stamps are, and always have been, about subsidy of industrial agriculture. "Helping the poor" is, as usual, just an excuse.
    The proper concern of society is the preservation of individual freedom; the proper concern of the individual is the harmony of society.

    "Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow." - Byron

    "Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe." - Milton



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Acala View Post
    Food stamps are, and always have been, about subsidy of industrial agriculture. "Helping the poor" is, as usual, just an excuse.
    At the same time, if people can use food stamps to buy: soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream then I see no valid reason to prevent them from buying potatoes with them.

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    At the same time, if people can use food stamps to buy: soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream then I see no valid reason to prevent them from buying potatoes with them.
    Kind of what I was thinking .



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