Tag Archives: magazines

I don’t know about you, but even though many of my favorite magazines have online versions…I still like to comb through the stands and hold the shiny, colorful, solid version in my hand when I read one. As with a title of a book, it’s often the cover of a magazine that acts like a magnet to potential buyers. But in the case of the May 14th issue of Newsweek, the message here was ‘buyer beware.’

As seen above, the image of a baby holding an order of fries was meant to indicate that potatoes are the problem fueling the obesity crisis our country faces. If this national health issue were as simple as pointing a finger at one food, or one food group, the solution to the issue would have already been solved. Whether you’re a carb lover or fat fighter, it doesn’t matter — the answer to our problem is not a single answer; it’s a list of many small steps we need to take to clean up our plates.

Getting back to that cover story, I couldn’t help but write a Letter to the Editor of Newsweek and I thought I’d share my thoughts with you:

“RE: ‘The New Obesity Campaigns Have It All Wrong’

To the Editor,

This time you superimposed the wrong photo on your cover (May14.) Americans are not overweight because of any one particular food. Perhaps that baby on the cover should have been holding a dinner plate the size of a manhole cover instead of fries, since our true problem is oversized portions…not potatoes.

As an independent Nutrition Communications consultant for the Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE) we know studies show that our population, particularly children, are not getting enough of certain nutrients like potassium and fiber; potatoes are one of the richest sources of both. Let’s not point fingers at veggies as the problem when they may very well be part of the solution.”

I’m not saying that the addition of potatoes alone will make your diet perfect, but I am saying that if you want to enhance your intake of potassium, fiber, vitamin C and other valuable nutrients…perhaps you shouldn’t pass them up in the produce aisle.