Saturday 26 April 2008

NO CHIPS in International Year of the Potato!

You may be aware that 2008 is the International Year of the Potato - the media has been full of potato related stories and information - including how potatoes can help alleviate world food shortage and feed the poor better than rice and wheat. But the Year of the Potato does not include the chip! How can this be? Surely the traditional, well loved and staple potato food that is the chip should have a place in the Year of the Potato? When one in four British potatoes are made into chips it's extraordinary that there's no chips allowed in the IYP - that's one and a quarter million tonnes of British potatoes excluded from the Year of the Potato! Chips have been a traditional way to provide cheap, hot, convenient and nutritious food - high in carbohydrate and vitamin C - since the 1830s - surely worth a mention in the Year of the Potato?