NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong here with friend of the show

Nate Hedgy, host of the public radio podcast Outside In.

Hey, great to be here.

Awesome to have you back. What do you have for us today, Nate?

Well, okay, so first, I know that you have a not-so-secret

McDonald's habit, as do I.

Oh, yeah, no, my body is like 50% fully efficient.

So my question to you is, do you consider the French fries in your kids happy meals to be a vegetable?

No, and I actually have a little weird feeling every time I even serve potatoes,

even at home, I'm like, this doesn't really count as a vegetable serving you know I always

have this conversation with myself. Well the federal government disagrees with you

it classifies potatoes baked waffled curled, fried, as a vegetable. But recently some

nutritional scientists were questioning that logic as the feds updated their

dietary guidelines for 2025. This is not the first time this has come up,

but every time it does, it's created a spud spat in our nation's capital.

My question, Mr. Secretary, is what does the department have against potatoes?

Why do you get potatoes so much, Mr Secretary?

That of course is Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a state that produces a ton of taters.

In fact, potatoes are a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.

Today in the

why potatoes have such sway on Capitol Hill and the real financial stakes this

...