Appetizing Football Facts

• The average American eats 126 pounds of potatoes a year.  It would take 5,704 pounds of Idaho® potatoes to fuel a football team & staff for one football season.  (Of course, this does not account for football-sized appetites.)

• The 2009 Idaho® potato harvest produced nearly 13 billion pounds of spuds.  That’s enough potatoes to fill one football field nearly 500 times! (360’ L x 160’ W x 10’ H)

• One Idaho® potato has 26 grams of carbohydrates.  Superior athletes like Olympians and football players need at least 60-70% of their diets to be comprised of complex carbohydrates like those found in potatoes.  With the added benefits of vitamin C, fiber and potassium, could there be a more perfect food for an athlete?

• Each 5.3 oz Idaho® potato is only 110 calories, contains zero fat and cholesterol, and is packed with nutrients including 45% daily value of vitamin C, nearly two times as much potassium as a banana, fiber, protein, vitamin B6 and complex carbohydrates.  At about 25 cents per potato, that’s a lot of nutritional bang for your buck – and even better, your quarter!

• Feeling anxious about the big game?  Eating potatoes can actually calm you when you’re feeling stressed because potatoes and other carbohydrate-rich foods contain serotonin, a chemical in the brain that regulates mood.

• Idaho® potatoes can make you smarter!  Studies have shown that foods high in carbohydrates encourage greater mental clarity.

Tater Humor

• Why didn’t the mother potato want her daughter to marry the sportscaster?
  • Because he was a just a “commontater.”

• Why wouldn’t the sideline reporter leave the mashed potatoes alone?
  • Because he desperately wanted a scoop.

• What do you say to an angry 300-pound potato football player?
  • Anything, just butter him up.

Idaho Potato Commission
The Idaho Potato Commission is a state agency that is primarily responsible for expanding the markets for Idaho®-grown potatoes through advertising, promotion and research. The Commission also protects the use of the “Idaho® potato” and “Grown in Idaho®” seals, which are federally registered Certification Marks that belong to the IPC. These Marks ensure that consumers are purchasing potatoes that have been grown in the state of Idaho. For more information visit www.idahopotato.com.