Nutritionist says revised guidelines protect health, potatoes

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

KENNEWICK, Wash. -- The USDA removed many of the potato industry's objections as it developed new standards for the national school lunch program, a nutrition expert says.

Nutritionist Dayle Hayes said the new standards, which first lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack introduced Jan. 25, represent an improvement over the rules proposed last year.

They do not limit the use of starchy vegetables such as potatoes and corn at lunch and instead require a minimum serving of half a cup per week. More can be included, Hayes said, so long as schools meet other minimum requirements.

The new guidelines also introduce requirements for vegetable subgroups such as dark green and red-orange colored vegetables, beans and peas (legumes) and starchy.

Starchy vegetables include green peas and fresh lima beans along with white potatoes and corn.

Two cups must be served from the other subgroups before starchy vegetables are included, Hayes said.

Some newer varieties of potatoes with deeper colors could be included in other subgroups because of their high level of antioxidants, she said.

The standards introduced last year limited the use of potatoes in school lunches and set off a flurry of protests from the potato industry and some members of Congress.

Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, said the new guidelines are an improvement compared to last year's proposal. It restricted all starchy vegetables to one cup per week and removed potatoes from the school breakfast program, he said.

The new rule has no restriction on breakfast and no limit on lunch, he said.

Voigt credited potato industry efforts to address the initial proposal, but said the industry still has work ahead to educate people about potatoes' nutritional value.

"It's unfortunate we had to spend so much time and resources on this fight. It probably should have never happened in the first place," he said.

Hayes pointed to an extended timeline for sodium reduction over the next decade as another positive. The new timeline gives industry and consumer tastes a chance to adapt to the changes.

The new rules establish maximum calorie levels for school breakfasts and lunch based on students' ages.

Hayes, who was the keynote speaker at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference in Kennewick, said the rules emphasize whole grains because they offer more dietary fiber and antioxidants compared to enriched grains.

Hayes said the cost of the new requirements will remain a concern for schools. When she speaks to school nutrition representatives, she said, cost and the menu's appeal to students are the primary factors they cite.

The proposed change will increase cost at least 14 cents at lunch and 50 cents at breakfast, she said.

She supports schools' ability to be creative. She pointed to examples of a baked potato bar, a sloppy joe on whole-wheat bread or a meatball "cupcake" with mashed potatoes as frosting.

"It's not nutrition until a child eats it," she said. "If it goes into the trash can, it's garbage. Kids like to eat potatoes and things on top of potatoes."