Potato: A vegetable or a Starch?

[sorrowscall]

So, at the moment I work in a resteraunt. One of my jobs is to peel the potatoes and I ended up asking the cook if a potato is a starch, a vegetable, or both. Instead of just getting a single answer from the cook, I kept getting different answers from a lot of my co-workers who happened to be there at the time. I know it's a silly question, and that I should know the answer. I'm actually pretty sure I did this morning, but now I'm not so sure anymore.

 

[cupcakechef]

Good question actually - personally I would define it as a vegetable, but every diet book I have ever read calls it a starch!

I guess perhaps it's open to interpretation?!

 

[Caribbean girl]

For years I have been classifying potato as a starch. However, over the past few years, I have been hearing it referred to as a vegetable. I tend to put potatoes in a class with pasta and rice, not with vegetables. When I do cream potatoes, it is like the main meal with the meat and vegetables added as side dishes. I am not quite sure why it is referred to as a vegetable. I guess this would apply to sweet potato as well.

 

[Morning Glory]

A potato is most definitely a vegetable! But it is also a starchy food. It contains starch. So its both!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Interestingly potatoes don't count as 1 of your 5 a day. I suspect it could be for that reason.

 

[classic33]

Interestingly potatoes don't count as 1 of your 5 a day. I suspect it could be for that reason.

"When eaten as part of a meal, potatoes are generally used in place of other sources of starch, such as bread, pasta or rice. Because of this, they don't count towards your 5 A DAY."
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Whatcounts.aspx
Me putting that last part in bold

 

[Corzhens]

Over here, potato is classified as a vegetable. This reminds me of the argument about the tomato whether it is a vegetable or a fruit. But I agree with some posts that potato is considered a substitute for rice or bread. When we have steak, we normally have mashed potatoes and when I get lazy to mash then it would be french fries.. no more rice, no more bread.

 

[MyExWasAChef]

I can't believe this is a thing. Potatoes are vegetables along with other root crops like sweet potatoes and taros. It's a starchy vegetable but it's still definitely a vegetable.