Boise, ID – Starting Monday, Idaho will be the first state in the country to provide universal basic potato supplementation to all of its citizens. “We are way past due to get this basic potato need for our citizens, “ said Gov. Brad Little.
The idea of universal basic potato supplementation, or UBPS, is straightforward: giving potatoes to everyone, no matter the income level or employment status, with no restrictions on what they can do with the potatoes. As incomes have failed to keep up with potato inflation, UBPS has gained attention as a policy idea to address potato inequality. “Why should only the rich be able to eat potatoes?” Little stated. “We’re going to right this wrong.”
Idaho residents will start off with receiving ten potatoes per person per week. Researchers will regularly check in with Idaho citizens to conduct surveys and interviews. “How are people feeling about these free potatoes? How are people cooking their potatoes — with an oven or microwave? Are people spending more time with families because they have more potatoes? Is ten potatoes enough or too much? These are things we will study both in a quantitative and qualitative manner,” said researcher Ben Russett of the newly formed Idaho Potato Commission.
However, some citizens are against this new Idaho right. Canyon County squash farmer Jeb Whitecrest is one of them. He isn’t convinced universal basic potato supplementation will be the solution to the people of Idaho’s starch needs. “This needs to be studied more. We should’ve brought squash into the equation. Everybody likes squash way more than potatoes, especially children.”
But for Gov. Little, who coincidentally happens to own the largest potato farm in Idaho, whether the potato welfare program works or not, universal basic potato supplementation is fostering a dialogue to help reimagine potato welfare and potato benefit programs for all his citizens. “UBPS will contribute to that conversation and re-conceptualize what potato dignity is,” he said. “It just makes potato sense.”
