Potato Ban?

VeganGal84

Sadly, it is true and they are limiting the amount of "starchy" vegetables (corn, peas, lima beans) to 1 cup per week.

Just saw this guy speak on the subject at a conference last week.

http://twentypotatoesaday.com/index.html

He is on the WA potato board and ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days to prove how nutritious they are. He lost weight and lowered his cholesterol, blood glucose and triglycerides. Check it out.

BTW, even Men's Health Abs Diet (which I follow) lists white potatoes as one of the most satisfying foods available when compared in a study to other 240 kcal portions of foods.

Now I want to go on the potato diet! :bigsmile:

rainunrefined

I teach in a school. Yes, the potatoes contain too many calories! That's because, even the "baked" fries that they serve are coated in grease! I touch one the other day and had to go wash my hands. Perhaps they should start by banning the grease that they put on the foods!

I also agree with the other posters - lets bring back activity! When I was a kid, we ate lunch fast so we could get outside faster to run and play. I rarely see that happen anymore. Kids finish eating and sit and text each other - even if they are sitting at the same table!

yes, yes & yes.

bcattoes

Doesn't it make more sense to ban deep fryers?

My school's food wasn't necessarily the tastiest, but nothing was ever fried. Breaded chicken sandwiches, french fries, the infamous tater tots, etc. were all baked. Although there could have been healthier options, at least they didn't throw everything into a deep fryer.

Just because they were baked doesn't mean they were healthier than deep fried. Frozen foods for baking, such as breaded chicken, tots, and fries are often coated in saturated and/or trans fat because it is solid and sticks to the food. It would actually be healthier to deep fry them in a vegetable oil.

rml_16

how often do they actually serve baked potato in schools today? I went to a Mennonite school where everything was made the day of, home style, by fantastic Mennonite women, and we only ever had baked potatoes like once every two weeks (and mashed potatoes at least 1x a week)...It seems more likely that they don't serve baked potato so the "banned" potato is really about fries and tots (which, CURSES, but they have gluten)

They didn't bake them when I was in school. We had tater tots and French fries, pizza, cheeseburgers, you name it.

In middle school and high school, I couldn't stand the idea of eating the school lunches (other than the fries) and ate mostly ice cream and Little Debbie snacks. The after school, we went for pizza or to fast food restaurants. I weighed 110 and wore size 3.

The difference? We were ACTIVE. All the time. We walked all over the place and went dancing and sledding and skiing. We had gym class every other day in school.

No, it wasn't a healthy diet. But somehow, I can only name one friend from those days who had a weight problem. And while I gained a bit when my metabolism slowed down around 30, I've also never been obese and my body fat has never been above a healthy percentage (even though my BMI is overweight at the moment).

manda1028

Potatoes are very healthy when prepared properly. And not high in calories at all. This is stupid.

AGREED. low in cals and filling. shouldnt take away the carbs from fruits n veggies.

maidentl

how often do they actually serve baked potato in schools today?

My kids' schools actually do (or did). That used to be a vegetarian option. I haven't noticed it much on the menu this year. I think banning potatoes is not the best idea. An overall tweaking of the menus is a much better idea but as someone said, that would require some actual effort. My younger son's elementary has been getting healthier each year I have noticed. So much so that he asks me to make his lunch some days because he doesn't like the choices! LOL Don't worry, he gets a healthy lunch from me, too.

Flyntiggr

I ate tater tots for dinner last night :bigsmile:

so did I!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

So, I just saw a news story about the USDA trying to ban potatoes in schools. Saying they are too high in calories and are a cause of childhood obesity. I think this is a bit ridiculous. Of course french fries are a culprit... But banning a baked potato, baked tater tots, or mashed potatoes? I think that is silly. Potatoes are a good starch and kids can benefit from the sustained energy that comes from a potatoes. Perhaps banning anything fried, pizza, pop, and candy... should be the focus rather than a staple of the American diet.

Any thoughts?

Here is a HP article with some more details for your reading pleasure... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/potatoes-could-be-banned-_n_980950.html

On baked potatoes - I think it's silly to ban them, but to make them healthy you need to remove the large volumes butter, cheese, sour cream, and bacon associated with them.

Tots are fried, packaged, sold, and reheated. I love em, but don't see your logic traslation to them as at the end of the day they are fried.

Mashed potatoes are made with butter and cream, we've already covered butter. Now cream . . . yeah. Unless they're made by sitting on the stove to create starchy water and then adding stock, not exactly the healthiest of options. I don't see your logic translating here either.