Governor Gary Locke has proclaimed tomorrow [Tuesday] “Potato Lover’s Day” in Washington.
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The Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC) will celebrate the occassion by hosting a free potato bar for the first 2,000 visitors to the Capitol Rotunda between 11:30am and 1pm. The potato bar will feature Washington grown potatoes.
Pat Boss, executive director of WSPC, commented: “This is always a popular event in the rotunda. Legislators, staff and tourists all get to feast on great baked potatoes, meet potato growers and receive information about Washington potatoes.”
Potatoes are one of the state’s most valuable commodities, feeding around US$3bn into the economy each year. Washington growers produce up to 60,000 pounds of potatoes per acre, a higher yield per acre than growers achieve anywhere in the world. Potatoes are the state’s third largest crop after apples and wheat. Last year, Washington growers produced more than 4.7 million tons of potatoes on 160,000 acres.
About 90% of all potatoes grown in Washington are marketed out of state. A significant portion of the harvest goes to Asia and Latin America through the ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Washington accounts for about one-third of all potatoes exported from the United States, most of them processed into frozen french fries or dehydrated products.
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