The potato is conspicuously high in potassium, but it is not likely that
in any diet containing one kind of fruit and one kind of vegetable each
day there will be any permanent shortage of this substance. Spinach,
celery, parsnips, lettuce, cabbage, rutabagas, beets, carrots, tomatoes,
cucumbers, and turnips are all good sources of potassium and some of them
are available all the year round without canning and drying.

But what significance has the "Anti-Scorbutic Property"? Does that not
make potatoes indispensable? Scurvy, Madam, occurs whenever people live
for a long time on a monotonous diet without fresh food. The potato offers
good protection against this disease at a low cost, but other foods have
long been known to possess the same power, among them oranges, lemons,
limes, and other fruits, and cabbage and other green vegetables; in fact,
a mixed diet in which fruits and vegetables occur is assurance of freedom
from scurvy. Just how far the potato will go in providing the specific
vitamines essential for growth is still unsettled. It undoubtedly contains
one of them in goodly amount, but for the present it is wise to include
some green (leaf) vegetable in the diet even when potatoes are plentiful,
especially if butter, milk, and eggs cannot be freely used.

Nutritionally then, we can find substitutes for the potato; practically,
too, we can find quite satisfactory alternatives for it in our
conventional bills of fare. On the face of things the potato is a bland
mealy food which blends well with the high flavor and the firm texture of
meat and the softness of many other cooked vegetables. Gastronomically,
rice or hominy comes about as near to having the same qualities, with hot
bread, macaroni, sweet potatoes, and baked bananas (underripe so as not to
be too juicy and sweet) close rivals. These are not so easy to cook and
serve as the potato and are not likely to supplant it when it is