APRE Roundtable Examines Priorities for Potato Nutrition Research

The Alliance for Potato Research & Education (APRE) Annual Research Roundtable brought nutrition researchers together with APRE board members and Potatoes USA staff to review current research, discuss emerging nutrition and public health issues, and identify questions that could inform future research. APRE is an industry-funded nonprofit dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of the role potatoes play in health.

The Roundtable combined research presentations with perspectives on potato production, processing, consumer insights, and nutrition programs. Participants also discussed topics shaping nutrition research, including dietary guidance, GLP-1 medications, ultra-processed foods, nutrition security, and personalized nutrition. Facilitated sessions helped identify research questions and areas where additional scientific evidence may be valuable.

“The Roundtable gives researchers and industry representatives an opportunity to share information, examine the current evidence, and identify questions that warrant further study,” said Riley Peterson, Director of Nutrition at Potatoes USA.

• Why it matters: The strength of the potato’s nutrition story is a direct driver of long-term demand. The questions researchers choose to pursue now shape the evidence the industry will use to make the case for potatoes for years to come.

The three-day roundtable brought nutrition researchers together with APRE board members and Potatoes USA staff to discuss priorities, share current work, and build relationships.

A key aim was giving researchers a fuller picture of the industry:

• Grower perspective: Taylor Grant, an Idaho grower and APRE board member, walked attendees through the growing cycle using footage from his operation, including field monitoring, harvesting, and potato storage. Researchers were struck by how adaptable the process is and by the technology farmers rely on.
• Processing perspective: Jolyn Rasmussen of J.R. Simplot shared industry insights that broadened attendees’ understanding of potato processing and the value of potatoes in all formats.
• Nutrition perspective: Riley Peterson, RDN and Nutrition Director, shared Potatoes USA consumer insights and Nutrition & Health program priorities that bring APRE research into health professionals’ conversations.

The group organized around APRE’s three priority areas for future research: cardiometabolic health, healthy, sustainable dietary patterns, and healthy lifestyles.

They also worked through how potatoes fit some of the most pressing conversations in nutrition today — from food security, where potatoes’ affordability and accessibility are an advantage, to GLP-1 medications, including how potatoes’ satiating qualities might support those looking to lose weight or control diabetes.

“The big shift is building on what we know about individual nutrients to understand how potatoes fit more holistically into a dietary pattern,” said Riley Peterson, Director of Nutrition at Potatoes USA. “Funding for scientific research is limited, so it’s important for APRE to keep clarifying the questions we need to ask to reach our goal of more people eating more potatoes in more ways.”