Posts Tagged “yams”
Livingston, CA – California sweet potato farmers are on a mission to end consumer confusion, entice younger buyers and increase retail sales of this superfood.
“It’s very likely that many shoppers who come into the store looking for sweetpotatoes are walking away confused and empty-handed when what they see on the shelf is labeled a Yam. Or perhaps it’s the reverse – they’re looking for yams, but the sign says Sweetpotato.” says Sarah Alvernaz, a California sweetpotato grower Band member of the California Sweetpotato Council.
To end this confusion once and for all, the California Sweetpotato Council is launching a new campaign for California retailers that aims to educate consumers and drive sales of sweetpotatoes.
The message to consumers is simple: Yam = Sweetpotato
“Sweetpotatoes come in all kinds of colors – red, orange, white, and, even purple. You may see them labeled as yams in the grocery store, but they’re actually sweetpotatoes,” explains Alvernaz. “True yams are very different from sweetpotatoes and are a starchy, tuberous vegetable mostly grown in Africa. These are not grown and are largely not available in the U.S., despite what you might see on display signs.”
Alvernaz and the California Sweetpotato Council hope to end this confusion, particularly for younger consumers who may not be interested in eating yams but have heard that sweetpotatoes are a superfood.
“We want people to know that sweetpotato is simply a modern, more accurate term than yam,” says Alvernaz.
Freeman explains that signage for sweetpotatoes commonly found in grocery stores does not reflect today’s sweetpotato crop. As with most commodities, sweetpotato growers produce many different varieties. Older sweetpotato variety names like Jewell or Garnet are still commonly used on store signage, but these varieties are no longer produced in California.
“We are encouraging retailers to label sweetpotatoes according to color,” notes Alvernaz. “Most varieties grown in California can be accurately labeled as either red, orange, white or purple sweetpotatoes, rather than using specific variety names. And most definitely none of these varieties are yams.”
“We want people to understand the Thanksgiving yam dish that’s been in their family for generations has always been made with sweetpotatoes and that sweetpotatoes can be used in a variety of recipes not just for the holidays,” said Freeman. “Ultimately we hope to demonstrate that with proper signage and knowledge, consumers will buy more sweetpotatoes!”
During recent years the sales of sweet potatoes (also known as yams) have grown by about 20 percent per year. The product is a staple in food magazines, cookbooks and on television shows.
According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration the orange flesh sweet potato is the only major vegetable that contains four nutrients that exceed 10 percent of the recommended daily amount.
These four nutrients are vitamin A (beta carotene), vitamin C, fiber and potassium.
Researchers at the University of Ulm in Germany recently released a study stating serum concentration of the antioxidants vitamin C and beta carotene were shown to be significantly lower in patients with mild dementia than in control persons. This opens the door to the possibility of influencing Alzheimer’s dementia by a person’s diet or dietary antioxidants.
It also has been reported previoiusl that the orange fleshed sweet potato is the most nutritional fresh produce item on the planet.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest names sweet potatoes the No. 1 most nutritious food because they are loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium and fiber.
Sweet potatoes also are city as a leading food item in ending world hunger? Apparently, they are. A grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, has a campaign in action now that aims to do just that.
The project demonstrates how, by providing much-needed nutrients like vitamins C, A and B6 to undernourished children, sweet potatoes are helping to avert stunting and ensuring proper growth. In addition, sweet potatoes are cheap to produce and they are easy to grow in uncertain conditions: perfect for regions prone to drought and famine.