US farmers hit the sweet potato spot

Chicago

THE once lowly sweet potato is being reborn as a kind of hip, orange super food. Gone are the days when the only time that Americans encountered the tuber was mashed up and topped with marshmallows alongside a Thanksgiving turkey. Today, sweet potatoes turn up everywhere as healthier, nutrient-dense alternatives to french fries at burger joints or colourful side dishes for swanky restaurants. They have more fibre and fewer calories than white potatoes.

And the appeal is not just among Americans, who are eating twice as many sweet potatoes as they did in 2005. Demand also is surging in Europe. In the US, the world's biggest exporter, farmers are planting their biggest crop in five decades after their shipments overseas doubled in five years to an all-time high. Nutritionists said that consumers who want to eat fewer grains and processed foods are choosing sweet potatoes.