Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Starchy, Starchy Day

By Mara Hernandez-Capili

Contrary to popular belief, we in fact need less protein and more starch in our daily food intake. Potato is the king of starchy vegetables. It is satisfying, nutritious, affordable and most of all tasty. If you have a microwave, it takes only a minute or two to build a whole meal around this terrific tuber.

Potatoes are fattening? Guess not; a five ounce spud contains only 80 calories. The potatoes reputation as fattening food comes from the way it is served- French fried, baked, and slathered with butter or sour cream. It is the added fat, not the potato itself that is fattening.

In the state of Maine, a yearly event is made in credit of this starchy king potato; which is always plenty harvest. They call this festival as the "Potato Blossom Festival". Potato Blossom Festival as to other festivals is famous, potato blossom hosts lots of activities such as cook offs wherein the best potato recipe wins of course, a beauty pageant, banner makings- promoting the cultivation of potatoes, potato eating- the person who eats the most wins the event and a lot more.

Non-profit organizations use the benefits from this festival to produce resources, souvenirs, aid, foods and other stuffs to sell during the entire event proper. Funds raised during the event is used to research and promote better familiarity of the said vegetable, it is for the these people to raise consciousness of how this simple tuber could do a lot and help a lot on their livelihood.

Potato is not only a food source; it is also a good source of income. If we look beyond it, it is more than starch it could be a way to fame and may cause a lot of luck. If visiting in Maine, don't forget to catch a glimpse of the Potato Blossom Festival and see the benefits that a good piece of potato can bring to the body.

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