U.S. Potato Board holds annual meeting in Bangor

Bangor played host last week to the U.S. Potato Board during the organization’s annual summer meeting. About 100 people attended the gathering from all around the country, according to Tom Qualey, a potato grower in Sherman who chairs the national group this year.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Qualey said the primary goal of the national potato board is to promote the potato as a healthful and low-cost food choice.

“A potato has more potassium than a banana and more Vitamin C than an orange,” he said. “A potato is a very healthy thing by itself, until you load it down with butter and sour cream and bacon.”

In addition to discussing upcoming promotional efforts, Qualey said, the growers’ group engaged in plenty of shoptalk.

“We always talk about who’s going to have the biggest yields and who’s had the worst weather,” he said. Maine is definitely a contender in the latter category, he said.

Thanks to the long, cool rainy spring and early summer, Qualey said, “Maine has had one of the most trying growing seasons in years.”