Culinary Spotlight: Increasing Demand for Potatoes through Education and Culinary Medicine

Over the past two months, Potatoes USA’s Culinary Program has energized chefs and healthcare professionals through immersive Spud Lab experiences and dynamic presentations.

Promoting Dehydrated Potatoes to the Research Chefs Association

The Research Chefs Association (RCA) — the leading professional community for food research and development — visited the Spud Lab in January for a culinary immersion that featured presentations on potato nutrition, sustainability, and the functionality of dehydrated potatoes.

• Why it matters: This was the first time that RCA has gathered at a commodity board for this type of education. Participants said they were interested in doing more of these events in the future.

The event included 10 research chefs who develop ingredients and recipes for large-volume foodservice and consumer packaged goods companies.

“They’re more focused on the science side of things,” said Chef RJ Harvey, Director of Culinary at Potatoes USA. “How to create large-volume food products for restaurant chains and for packaged foods.”

“We went into why chefs should utilize dehydrated potatoes in their formulations,” Chef RJ Harvey said. “For example, for a packaged goods company, you want dehydrated potatoes in your formulation to get even browning, better texture, and to extend the shelf life. Their eyes were opened quite a bit as to how dehydrated potatoes are actually made. They were also impressed with the versatility of potatoes — how they can be used across so many parts of the day, menu items, and applications.”

The event included demonstrations of potato recipes like potato churros with dips, Mexican hot chocolate ganache, potato biscuits with pimento cheese, and fresh gnocchi (made with dehydrated potatoes).

Potatoes Included in Culinary Medicine at the Teaching Kitchen Symposium

In December, the Culinary team attended a three-day Teaching Kitchen Symposium hosted by the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative — a non-profit organization that works to improve lives through transformative culinary and lifestyle education.

• Why it matters: The event provided an opportunity to demonstrate how potatoes can be incorporated into culinary medicine and teaching kitchens. Many attendees, including doctors, nurses, and registered dietitians certified as culinary medicine specialists, operate teaching kitchens of their own, extending the reach of these learnings.

“The sentiment was that this group absolutely loves potatoes and understand potatoes should be included in this type of curriculum, mainly because they are a ubiquitous, versatile, and nutrient-dense ingredient,” Chef RJ Harvey said.

• What attendees said:
  • “Team Potato lit things up! I am a potato person and many of my clients/patients crack up at how much I LOVE potatoes! So, having you at the event and celebrating them together was so fun. What a great event and the potatoes fit right here (beautifully and deliciously) on the plate.” — Toni Toledo, MPH, RDN, an instructor at San Jose State University and podcast host
  • “It was so good to see Team Potato there. Great information shared both on stage and off!” — Sabrina Falquier, MD, CCMS, DipABLM, Culinary Medicine Educator