New diet for potato official: all spuds all the time

Chris "Spuds" Voigt (pictured below), executive director of the Washington state Potato Commission, says he’s sick of people linking the potato to junk food.

Voigt is going on an all spuds diet for 60 days. During that time he estimates he will eat about 20 spuds a day.

The potato has vitamins and minerals and not a lot of calories, if eat it without the sour cream, bacon bits and melted-cheese sauce.

He won't be taking vitamins, though he's checking with nutrition experts to see whether colored-flesh potatoes have Vitamin A. He will try to stick to Washington spuds – easy enough since the state is the second-leading grower.

But he travels a good bit, so he may have to eat a tuber from Maine or Wisconsin or – perish the thought – Idaho.

The diet will take him to Nov. 29. That is after Thanksgiving. And Voigt admits the holiday will be a temptation minefield.

More here.