Potato Diet begins

Bill Schaefer

Spudman Managing Editor

What’s your last meal before you embark on a 60-day diet of potatoes? If you’re Chris Voigt it’s a huge pizza. I spoke briefly with Chris, the executive director Washington State State Potato Commission, on Thursday, September 30, before he begins his all-spud diet on Friday, October 1.

He told me that a number of media organizations had been in contact during his flight from San Diego to Seattle Thursday to interview him as he begins the diet. The Associated Press, MSNBC, KCBS, a San Francisco radio station and a couple radio stations out of Seattle, along with the Seattle newspapers, the Times and the Post-Intelligencer have picked up on the story.

This is my last supper prior to starting 60 days of potato bliss,” Voigt said on his way home from the Seattle airport. “I’m having the biggest, thickest, cheesiest, meatiest pizza you’ve ever seen in your entire life.”

Today begins his quest to prove the potato’s nutritional value. It’s a diet strictly limited to potatoes and seasonings and herbs, he said. No butter, no sour cream, no chili, broccoli or cheese. Maybe ketchup, that hasn’t been determined, yet, but Tabasco sauce is on the menu.

His intention is to prove to the public that the potato is nutritious enough that a person could live off a diet comprised solely of potatoes.

“It seemed like potatoes were being blamed for everything that was wrong with the world and I wanted to do something that was bold to just remind the public of truly how nutritious the potato is. I mean it is literally so good for you that you could just live off of it, if you had to,” said Voigt, explaining his rationale for his rather extreme dietary decision.

In fact, Voigt doesn’t recommend this diet to anyone else and confesses that it runs counter to his own beliefs.

“This is actually against everything I believe in,” he said. “I believe in a well balanced diet. This obviously conflicts with my belief but I think I have to do something extreme like this to bring attention to the potatoes.”

He said he had some potato growers who offered to join him in his spud centric diet but he turned down their requests.

He had a physical check-up last week and will be posting his blood test results on line and then he plans on a follow-up physical at the end of the diet.

You can follow Chris Voigt’s dietary adventure online at http://20potatoesaday.com/ and we’ll be checking in with him every couple of weeks to find out how he’s progressing.

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