WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) applauded the release of a study from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommending that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) include fresh, white potatoes in the Special Supplementation Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). King has joined with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) in consistently advocating for this inclusion.  

“This study further confirms what we have known and consistently advocated for over the years – that fresh, white potatoes are indeed a nutritious and beneficial food that low-income families should have access to through the WIC program,” said Senator King. “As we have said repeatedly, decisions about which foods are included in the WIC package should be based solely on science. And the science here is irrefutable. I applaud Senator Collins for her hard-fought efforts on this issue and will continue to stand with her on behalf of Maine families and potato growers.”

The committee that authored the IOM report found that WIC participants’ intake of all vegetables, including starchy vegetable like white potatoes, could be improved. The committee also determined that the potassium-rich white potato could help alleviate the potassium deficiency seen in the diets of many low-income women and children. Further, the committee highlighted the increased choice that WIC participants would have in trying to meet their dietary preferences with white potatoes as an option.

Potatoes' exclusion from the USDA rule dated back to December 2009, and was based on recommendations of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans report, which used nearly 20-year old consumption data. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, however, recommends five to six cups of these vegetables per week for women with a daily caloric intake of 1,800 to 2,400 calories – an increase of two to three cups per week from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Fresh white potatoes were the only fresh fruit or vegetable excluded from the approved WIC food package.

In December 2014, Senator Collins successfully included a provision in the Fiscal Year 2015 federal appropriations bill requiring all fresh fruits and vegetables – including fresh white potatoes – in the WIC program. The provision also required the USDA to begin its scheduled review of the WIC package to determine any long-term exclusion or inclusion of fresh fruits or vegetables.  

In June 2013, Senator King co-sponsored an amendment with Senator Collins to the Senate Farm Bill which would have included white potatoes in the WIC program, and in October 2013, Senator King wrote a letter to Senators Debbie Stabenow and Thad Cochran, Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, respectively, highlighting various farming and food issues of particular importance to Maine, including the inclusion of white potatoes in the WIC program.

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