Bless the Orange Sweet Potato

[mgc1961]

As we all prepare to gain a few pounds over Thanksgiving, I promise not to be a buzz kill wagging my finger about starva ... well, never mind. You see, this is that rarest of birds: a happy column about hunger.

And our hero, appropriate for this season, is a high-tech and heroic version of the vitamin-packed, orange-fleshed sweet potato. Along with a few other newly designed foods, it may help save hundreds of thousands of children’s lives each year.

If there’s any justice in the world, statues may eventually be erected of this noble root, the Mother Teresa of the dinner plate. But, first, the back story. We think of starvation as a shortage of calories, but researchers are finding that the biggest reason people die of malnutrition is simply lack of micronutrients.

Here's more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/opinion/25kristof.html?_r=1&hp

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. +1000, k and r

[PearliePoo2]

2. I wonder how Yams compare?

I actually prefer them over sweet potatoes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Your question led me searching for a comparison chart. Here:

It seems the same Vit. A problem might have existed in the South.
Check this out:

Several decades ago when orange flesh sweet potatoes were introduced in the southern United States producers and shippers desired to distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types.
The African word "nyami" referring to the starchy, edible root of the Dioscorea genus of plants was adopted in its English form, "yam".
Yams in the U.S. are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweet potato." The following information outlines several differences between sweet potatoes and yams.

Link to chart of differences:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/sweetpotato.html



I prefer the orange sweet potato/yam , myself. Steamed, then flattened with a fork, with a glaze of melted butter, brown sugar, and just a little bit of orange juice mixed in, they are wonderful.
I find myself craving them and eat them several times a week.
The "traditional" Thanksgiving recipe of melted marshmallows on them, I am not fond of.

This week the potatoes are on sale for 28 cents a pound, they seem to be available year round down here in the South,
people also plant them in the garden in early summer for the long decorative vines.

[PearliePoo2]

7. 28 cents a pound sounds really good

my grocery store in Washington State has them "On Sale" at .69 a pound. :(
I prepare them the same way, but never tried the orange juice.
They're good with just butter and a little salt too.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. 28 cents was a loss leader sale.

I pay anywhere from 59 to 89 a pound, depending on store and on season.

A little bit of OJ with butter and brown sugar makes carrots yummy too.
that is how I got the kids, where they were little, to eat the orange veggies...told them they were eating
orange juice plants. heh heh.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Thanks.I had been wondering about what the difference was...and now I know that I love SWEET POTATOS

and they are so very, very good for me....

Having a baked sweet potato for lunch today.

[bread_and_roses]

4. In the US, sweet potatos are often called "yams" but are not

http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html

Yams
Yams are closely related to lilies and grasses. Native to Africa and Asia, yams vary in size from that of a small potato to a record 130 pounds (as of 1999). There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95% of these crops are grown in Africa. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier.

Why the confusion?
In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties.

Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/sweetpotato.html

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SWEET POTATO AND A YAM?

Several decades ago when orange flesh sweet potatoes were introduced in the southern United States producers and shippers desired to distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types. The African word "nyami" referring to the starchy, edible root of the Dioscorea genus of plants was adopted in its English form, "yam". Yams in the U.S. are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweet potato." The following information outlines several differences between sweet potatoes and yams.

[elleng]

5. Thanks for the info. Had a big one for dinner yesterday, may do the same today.

(Having Day After Thanksgiving dinner for my daughters + beaux tomorrow.)

[PearliePoo2]

6. thanks for the research and links you guys/gals

So the yam we get here in the grocery store is actually a variety of sweet potato, not a true yam. Do I have this right?

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Yep.

A real yam is a huge 7 pound or so tuber, they sell it cut up in wrapped chunks.
I have seen them but not bought them.

Also, just to confuse things, there are "white" sweet potatoes than have very light skin,
"red" sweet potatoes that have light pinkish skin, and "red" sweet potatoes with dark orange-ish brown skin.

There are probably more different types down here in the South than up in Puget Sound, I would expect.

[The Hitman]

10. Damn it, I thought this was a post about Boehner

Ah well...

[formercia]

12. French fried Sweet Potatoes

a tasty treat.

[swilton]

13. There isn't a food shortage problem

there is a food distribution problem

[swilton]

14. Michael Pollan

(OMNIVORE's DILEMMA, IN DEFENSE OF FOOD) challenges the notion that micro-nutrients are the panacea that this author describes. This author is prescribing 'nutritionism' a nutrient by nutrient approach to eating, coincidentally also an approach advocated by the advocates of processed food who gain much from the confusion about what to eat, as well as the commercialization of foods in indigenous populations.

For Americans, according to Pollan, this obsession with nutrition has left us unhealthy vis a vis, skyrocketing obesity, among other ailments (cancers and cardio-vascular diseases). Non-Western cultures to adopt Western diets, do not improve their health.