Can the potato still be a vegetable? There is discussion in the US

When Americans gorge themselves on French fries, is it a good idea to still call the potato a vegetable? To prevent a new classification, fourteen senators have stood up in defense of the crop.

US health authorities, the potato lobby and members of Congress have been bickering for years over the classification of the starchy food. This classification determines, among other things, the awarding of government subsidies.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Americans ate an average of 22 kilograms of potatoes per year in 2019, about half of which were in the form of (unhealthy) frozen products such as fries. Since more than four in ten adult Americans are overweight, consideration should now be given to moving potatoes from being classified as a ‘vegetable’ to a ‘grain’ in the new dietary guidelines for the period 2025-2030.

Fourteen senators have prepared a press release in defense of the potatoes. They are “rich in potassium, calcium and vitamin C,” the group of Republicans and Democrats said in a letter to the ministers of Agriculture and Health. A change in classification would “confuse consumers, restaurants and producers,” said senators from Idaho, Maine and Oregon, all states with significant potato production.

The senators appear to be taking flight, as a spokesperson for the US Department of Agriculture said in the newspaper TheHill that there is no consideration to change the classification.

Pizza is also a vegetable

It is not the first time that the classification of food has led to discussion. In 2011, Congress decided that pizza can be labeled as a vegetable in American schools, as long as there are at least two spoons of tomato sauce on the pizza. In this way, pizza as a school meal could continue to count on state support. It was a victory for the frozen food lobby over the Minister of Agriculture, who wanted to take measures against childhood obesity by excluding pizza from vegetables.

But the opposite has also happened: in the early 1980s, the government of President Ronald Reagan attempted to classify ketchup as a vegetable in American school lunches. However, public outrage soon caused the project to be shelved.