staugustine.com Local News: "Low-carb Tater"
Chad Hutchinson of the University of Florida is in charge of the low-carb potato project. He said for the past four years he's been growing potatoes from the Netherlands in Hastings that have 30 percent fewer carbs than standard baking potatoes. He said the potato is not genetically enhanced in any way, and it's a European gourmet potato that's known for its taste.
The best thing about this is that the farms participating in this project are right here in Florida. I contacted Chad to discuss the possibility of chipping these potatoes in our stores. He said that these are not traditionally suited for commercial chipping because of their high water content and low gravity. After explaining that they wouldn't be mass produced but would be processed in a much smaller scale, he agreed that we could experiment with these to see how it worked.
Chad was also very helpful in explaining the potato market here in Florida. He says that there is a line called the "Sebago" that is similar to the Atlantic (apparently a traditional chipping potato) that has great flavor even if it's not the best candidate for large-scale chipping operations. This line is available for 5-6 months in Florida and can also be sourced in Maine for the remainder of the year. After I mentioned that we will be using Snowden and Norwiss potatoes, he advised that Snowden can be bitter at times depending on where it's harvested.
As a side note, check out this image of a blue potato grown right here in Florida. Chad says that the staugustine.com article mistakenly used this image for the low-carb potato. The real low-carb potato has a yellowish color. Regardless, can you see yourself snacking on a bucket full of these babies!
I was very happy to have picked up the phone to track Chad down. He seems to be a fountain of potato knowledge and I'm sure he'll be a great resource in the future.
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