Back to potato roots: good, nutritious food for tough times.

OK, it's not exactly a happy new year. The stock market crashed, and with it the hopes and dreams of many have been dashed. Auto sales are sputtering, and the economy is fluttering. Cash is king, but it's increasingly on the wing. Credit is as tight as a tick in some parts, and a long line of near bankrupt bankers and ailing industrialists are begging the taxpayers for bailouts and economic jump-starts.

Unemployment is up, consumer confidence is down-but, thankfully, so are oil prices. Pity the poor Dubai property speculators. They have seen condo values sink into the sand, along with plummeting oil revenues which currently provide less lubrication for Gulf state spending.

Don't worry, the politicians say, help is on the way.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (who is up for re-election this year) and her uneasy coalition partners have agreed to an EUR 50 billion (US $67.02) stimulus package tailored to get the engine revving again for Europe's largest economy. Reportedly, it will even contain incentives valued at EUR 2,500 for folks to purchase a new car.

In China, where as far as we can tell there are no contested elections scheduled for 2009, the government has announced a 4-trillion-yuan ($586 billion) stimulus program that, among other things, includes massive infrastructure construction, aid to farmers and cuts on export taxes. Presumably there will be funding in the budget to improve food safety infrastructure as well.

And in the good old USA--the country which some pundits, pointing to the subprime mortgage meltdown as the catalyst, blame for today's global financial calamity--even before moving into the White House, President-elect Barack Obama was pleading for authorization from Congress for an additional $350 billion in federal bailout bucks for troubled American banks. That, heaped on top of other corporate welfare payments to otherwise broke financial institutions, a huge stimulus spending scheme, and anticipated tax cuts for workers, could easily add up to a $1 trillion tsunami of red ink.

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As presses at the US Treasury work overtime to print money, one wonders where the real cash is going to come from to finance the debt. China, which has been among the biggest bankrollers of America's mortgaged future during the past decade or so, has mounting economic problems of its own to worry about these days. But at least Beijing's coffers are loaded with export-earned greenbacks, euros, yen and other convertible currencies that can be drawn upon to pay as they go. Germany is a big export nation too, but no doubt its children will be footing the bill for emergency government spending for some time to come. As for the Americans, it is likely that their children's children's children will have to pay off the mountain of debt.

Now the good news. The recession will probably be positive for frozen food sales, suggest a number of leading European producers commenting in this issue of QFFI [see pages 58-67 and 73-74], who think households will buy more value-for-money products to feed the family. We can manage cash more prudently for now on by returning to a diet rich in the meat (which includes healthy seafood) and potato comfort foods that nourished many of us as we grew up.

The virtues of potatoes received center-of-the-plate of attention during a roundtable discussion on corporate social responsibility organized by McCain Continental Europe during the recently held SIAL in Paris. Among the panelists were an endocrinologist and FAO agricultural officer, as well as an agronomist and the head of McCain Continental Europe.

Dr. Ne Bambi Lutaladio of the FAO pointed out that 325 million tons of potatoes were produced in 2007, ranking it as the world's-No. 4 food crop. Global appetite for the tuber is expected to double by 2030. That's good, not only because production should keep up with demand, but because 80% of the potato harvest is utilized compared to just 55% for cereals, and even less for rice.

McCain CEO Jean Beruou, lauding the role played by the humble spud in fighting poverty and hunger, underscored the nutritional benefits of potatoes. "They are rich in complex carbohydrates, mainly starch, and low in fat. They also contain many other important nutrients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals," he said. And one can rest assured that McCain, along with other producers, has significantly reduced saturated fat and salt content in frozen potatoes.

"Does this mean I can eat fries daily?" somebody asked.

"There are no taboo foods," replied Dr. Boris Hansel, MD. "Potatoes are carbohydrates, which belong in every diet. No food is bad, as long as consumed in moderation."

By JOHN M. SAULNIER, QFFI Chief Editor & Publisher