Potato industry works to get spuds into schools

More potatoes could be on school cafeterias menus in the near future.

The potato industry is targeting younger generations by bring spuds from the field to the lunch line with nearly 3,000 potato friendly salad bars in schools across the country.

“At the core it’s focused on bringing the potato into the weekly diet of kids, from middle school, elementary and all the way up through high school,” said Chris Wada, marketing director for Wada Farms.

The industry said in recent years the potato has been given a bad image, especially as the push against fast food has intensified.

“Potatoes are indeed healthy, high in vitamin C, a great source of potassium and fiber, and it’s really what you do with the potato from it’s healthy state,” he said. “Changing that perception would be key.”

Potatoes could also prove to be cost effective for schools by vegetable options for students and cutting down on waste, especially since there would be no cost to each school to maintain the salad bar donation.

“It’s kind of a primary thing, from national boards to state commissions, potato growers and shippers to potentially donate a salad bar to their local school district,” said Wada.

Industry analysts said potato consumption has been gradually declining.

The U.S. Potato Board will hold its annual meeting in March, where it will discuss setting up the potato salad bar challenge.