I am of the generation that was raised with the expectation that you had to eat what was on your dinner plate. Even if I did not like what was on my plate, my parents expected me to eat it. I remember – quite distinctly – my mother telling me to “eat your potatoes they are good for you.”

It turns out mom was wrong, according to the USDA. Officials from USDA are proposing limiting the amount of potatoes that can be served to students as part of the school lunch program. We are not just talking potato chips or French fries, but even boiled white potatoes. This has sparked a potato war which has made its way to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

In proposing new food guidelines, wants to limit the amount of starchy vegetables (potatoes, peas and corn) that can be served as part of the school lunch program to one cup per week. It would ban the potato completely from the breakfast program. The school lunch program serves about 32 million children each day and spends about $9.8 billion a year to do so.

The breakfast program serves about 12 million children daily at a cost of about $3.1 billion. The basis for this proposal is a study, released earlier this year by Harvard, that blamed the lowly spud as a major cause of obesity. Maine Sen. Susan Collins is spearheading congressional opposition to the latest efforts of the USDA to manipulate school lunches. The same agency that once classified ketchup as a vegetable, is again determining what is good food and what is bad food.

“The problem is that the potato has been unfairly singled out,” said Collins, who added that potatoes has more nutrients than iceberg lettuce, which isn’t limited by the new standards. “What would be legitimate would be for them to encourage healthy preparation of potatoes. I don’t understand why the department has singled out the white potato when it can be healthily prepared, it’s nutritious, and it’s affordable and that’s an important part too.”

Collins has joined with other farm-state senators and representatives to put a stop this latest attempt to regulate our food supply.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest charges that “the French fry industry and other food interests are working to get Congress to stop USDA from finalizing these sensible school nutrition standards.”

Keep in mind, however, that CSPI is the same group that perpetrated the Alar hoax on the apple industry a few decades ago. The Activist Cash website describes CSPI as the “undisputed leader among America’s ‘food police.’” It is not surprising they would champion this latest move by the heavy hand of government. USDA officials are feeling the heat of this hot potato. During a recent press briefing, they said that the 60-day comment period on the rule had just been completed and that they had not had a chance to review all the comments.

Meanwhile, Collins and her collogues plan to bring the potato war to the floor of the U.S. Senate when the USDA budget appropriations bill comes up for debate.

The House version of the 2012 farm bill already contains language which aims to stop restrictions on use of the white potato in school lunches and breakfasts.

Despite assurances to the contrary by the President, the regulations continue to flood out of Washington, and our food supply is a major target. We must continue to expose and resist efforts to limit our food production and food consumption. The potato war is just the latest example.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.