Popular Tags
With 934 posts, chances are there's already an answer to your question. Please try searching below before submitting a question to Dr. Potato. Use multiple words to help narrow down the results. For example, search for "potatoes" and "group" if looking for an answer on cooking potatoes for large groups.
We buy really nice Idaho potatoes at our local Costco and we love them. Recently I have been hearing that potato farmers have separate fields for their personal consumption because they don't like all the chemicals and pesticides used on the potatoes sent to market. Is this true?
I traced your question back to an interview that was done by author Michael Pollan back in 1998. Michael is a college professor at UC Berkeley, and has written several books on healthy eating, but he does not have a science background. This was during a time of great controversy over Monsanto's efforts to expand the GMO potato seed into new areas. By contract, Monsanto owned the potato seed and the potatoes that were harvested from the planted fields. Michael interviewed a sixty year old Idaho potato grower, Dan Forsyth of Jerome Idaho. According to the story, Dan grew potatoes as a business in a conventional manner. When asked about growing organic produce:“I like to eat organic food, and in fact I grow a lot of it at the house. I’m not sure I should be saying this, but I always plant a small area of potatoes without any chemicals. By the end of the season, my field potatoes are fine to eat, but any potatoes I pulled today are probably still full of systemics. I don’t eat them"(Page 220).You can read a lot into this and conclude as Michael has that conventionally grown potatoes, using fertilizers and pesticides, are automatically harmful to eat which organic potatoes use nothing and just grown fine without any help.
Here are some facts to consider:
To answer your original question, the Idaho potatoes you usually purchase at Costco are completely safe to eat (America has the safest food supply in the world with some of the strictest rules science can measure).
Share This
Dr. Potato isn't a real doctor but a team of potato experts ready to answer all your potato questions.
Popular Tags
Established in 1937, the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) is a state agency that is responsible for promoting and protecting the famous "Grown in Idaho®" seal, a federally registered trademark that assures consumers they are purchasing genuine, top-quality Idaho® potatoes. Idaho's ideal growing conditions, including rich, volcanic soil, climate and irrigation differentiate Idaho® potatoes from potatoes grown in other states.
Contact
661 South Rivershore Lane
Suite 230
EAGLE, ID 83616
Phone: 208-334-2350
Fax: 208-334-2274
More