Thursday, November 25, 2010

I like sweet potatoes...

...and was pleased to read this morning that the lesser-known tuber is finally getting the respect it deserves. In an article in the Times today, "Sweet Potatoes Step Out From Under Marshmallows" (my emphasis):

After generations of being smothered by a blanket of marshmallows on Thanksgiving and then forgotten for another 11 months, the irrepressible sweet potato is having its moment.

American farmers expect to harvest a record two billion pounds this year, almost half of that here in the nation’s most prolific sweet potato state. Sweet potatoes have achieved a status that just a few years ago would have seemed laughable.

They may even be hip.

Once again, BOWG is out in front on a new trend.

But then I read this:

“Within the diabetic community, it’s become pretty common knowledge that sweet potatoes are good for you, so there’s a groundswell because so many people have diabetes now,” said the chef Michel Nischan, who owns the Dressing Room in Westport, Conn., and helps host “dLife TV” on CNBC, the first television show for people with diabetes.

"So many people have diabetes now?" Why is that? Aren't we supposed to be getting healthier as we get richer? Why do I feel like Americans are such an unhealthy people?

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