Economics
The Hip, Orange Super Food Increasingly Displacing French Fries
- Americans are eating twice as many sweet potatoes since 2002
- U.S. farmers plant most since 1965 as exports to Europe surge
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The once lowly sweet potato is being reborn as a kind of hip, orange super food.
Gone are the days when the only time 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 colorful side dishes for swanky restaurants. They have more fiber and fewer calories than white potatoes.