Potato Profiles: How Potatoes Are Sold and Used
Potatoes don’ t just end up in a sack at the grocery store— there are many different ways they are sold and used! Farmers grow potatoes for different markets based on size, variety, and even skin color. Let’ s take a look at the five main ways potatoes are marketed in the United States. Write the correct type of potato under each photo.
Type: Fresh Table-Stock Potatoes These are the potatoes you buy in bags or loose in the produce section of the grocery store.
• Examples: Russets, reds, yellows, whites, purples, and fingerlings
• Use Them For: Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato salad
• Fun Fact: Colorado’ s San Luis Valley is one of the top regions in the U. S. for growing fresh potatoes!
Type: Chipping Potatoes These potatoes are grown especially to be sliced thin and turned into potato chips.
• Use Them For: Potato chips( crispy and crunchy!)
• Fun Fact: Chipping potatoes are usually light-colored and round, with low sugar so they fry evenly.
Type: Frozen Potatoes These potatoes are processed in factories and frozen into products you might eat at home or in restaurants.
• Use Them For: French fries, hash browns, tater tots
• Fun Fact: Frozen potatoes are one of the most common ways Americans eat potatoes- especially at fast food restaurants!
Type: Dehydrated Potatoes These are potatoes that have been cooked, dried, and turned into flakes or granules.
• Use Them For: Instant mashed potatoes, boxed potato mixes, soups, and snacks
• Fun Fact: Dehydrated potatoes are super lightweight and perfect for camping, backpacking, and military meals.
Type: Seed Potatoes These potatoes aren’ t for eating, they’ re for planting! Farmers use them to grow new potato plants.
• Use Them For: Starting next season’ s potato crops
• Fun Fact: Seed potatoes must be inspected carefully to make sure they are healthy and disease-free.
6- COLORADO AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM
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Photo credit: Potatoes USA