An amendment recently filed to the Senate’s pending Farm Bill would add white potatoes to the list of fresh fruits and vegetables that are included in the Department of Agriculture’s Women, Infants and Children Food Package.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) filed the amendment on Tuesday. The proposed legislation would require that only fresh, whole or cut vegetables, including white potatoes are included in the package. Vegetables with added sugars, fats or oils would be prohibited.
Fresh white potatoes are the only fresh fruit or vegetable currently excluded from the WIC food package. Collins said it sends a message to Americans that potatoes are not nutritious. Potatoes, however, have more potassium than bananas and they are good sources of fiber and vitamins C and B6. Potatoes are cholesterol-free, fat-free and sodium-free.
“The potato is a wonderfully nutritious food that is inexpensive, easy to transport, has long storage life and can be used in a wide array of recipes,” Collins said. “It makes perfect sense to include this healthy, locally grown vegetable in the WIC package.”
The WIC Food Package is the Agriculture Department’s service that provides supplemental foods designed to meet the special nutritional needs of low-income pregnant, breast-feeding, non-breastfeeding, postpartum women as well as children younger than five years old who are at nutritional risk.