Potatoes the American Staple and a Healthy Starch

Archaeologists found potato remains as far back as 500 BC in the ancient ruins of Peru and Chile. Today, potatoes are a staple food here in the United States and a popular vegetable worldwide.

Of the many types of potatoes, the Blue and Purple potatoes mostly available during the fall originated in South America and today are widely cultivated in the United States. The Red potato has a rosy red skin and is well suited for salads, roasting, boiling, and steaming. The Russet Burbank potato is disease resistant, developed and named after Horticulturist Luther Burbank in 1872. This potato is high in starch and is the most popular potato of all. The White potato has a medium starch level, creamy texture when cooked, and a light tan skin. This all-purpose potato is excellent for mashing and is available year round.

Cooking methods for potatoes are simple and are as follows; boiled or steamed, sautéed or pan-fried, braised, baked, broiled or grilled, and deep-fried. Potatoes are easily prepared and its nutritional value is low in protein, almost no fat, high in carbohydrates, and high in potassium.

Fun Facts:

• Potatoes are a starch, other starches are: barley, corn, grains, legumes, millet, rice, and wheat
• Starch is a cardohyrate and it turns to sugar when eaten, then our bodies use the sugar (glucose) as energy
• Starch is clean fuel
• Starches are very low in fat (1% to 8% of their calories)
• Starches contains no cholersterol
• Starches do not grow human pathogens (salmonella, E.Coli, etc.)
• Starches do not store poisonous chemicals (DDT etc.)
• Starches have protein (6% to 28% of their calories)
• Starches contains vitamins and minerals
• Starches have dietary fiber and high energy carbohydrates
• Starches are energy satisfying “comfort food”

• All large populations of trim, healthy people throughout history, have obtained the bulk of their calories from starch
• In the early 1800s, President Thomas Jefferson served French Fries in the White House.
• In the mid 1800s Chef George Crum sliced some potatoes paper-thin, fried them in hot oil, salted, and served them to railroad magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt who accused the chef of slicing the potatoes to thick.
• In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable grown in space. NASA’s goal is feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.

Have you had a starch today, it’s healthy for you.