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Anyone on LJ from Idaho? I've got a complaint to make.

3K views 47 replies 30 participants last post by  TheCutWorx 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Just like the title says - is anyone on Lumberjocks living in the great state of Idaho? I have a small grievance to file.
 
#5 ·
Nice try, but if I learned anything in my three years of 5th grade geography, it's that Spokane isn't Idaho, it's Washington. So where are the Idahoans? Come on, I know you're out there.
 
#9 ·
OK DKV, then you are it. Just remember you asked for it.
So here's the deal - I'm tired of buying sacks of potatoes and finding soggy, bruised, midgets with eyes already growing on them. I've tried the commissary on post, Safeway, Fry's, Walmart - it doesn't seem to matter, they're all the same rotten potatoes.

Now I don't ask for much of my grocery store - meat, potatoes and the occasional sale on cheese in a spray can. But for the last couple of years when I try to buy potatoes all I get is this trash. Of course you're putting it in brown plastic bags so I can't see what I'm buying until I get home. Don't you think that's a bit underhanded? If you're so proud of your product then why not use clear bags so we can see it before we actually pay for it? And yes I know I can buy them individually in the clear plastic for a buck each - but isn't that going overboard? A buck each just to get an edible potato? That's the kind of bourgeoisie cr@p I'd expect from the heirloom tomato crowd, not my tater supplier. A spud is a spud and I should be able to buy anything that says Idaho on it and know I'm getting a good product.

So I want you to go and tell them ranchers that when they go out for their next potato roundup that they need to put a little more effort into it. The next bag of spuds that I buy better be filled with softball sized russets with perfect skin and texture suitable for baking, frying, mashing or any other cooking method I can dream up. They need to be fresh enough to last at least a couple of weeks in my pantry, not a couple of minutes. You think I'm going to eat 5 pounds of potatoes by myself in one sitting? Come on guy that is just ridiculous.

And don't go thinking you got me over a barrel here. Sure, we both know that I'm not going to go running to yams or (God Forbid) Rutabaga, but I can boycott Lays Potato Chips and McDonalds Fries. And when they can't sell their product they won't be buying from you. Then what? I'm betting Idaho isn't so great a place to be when you've got no money and piles of rotting potatoes all over the place. so you better fix it bud.

That's all.
 
#12 ·
Thanks DKV - set them straight.
And thanks too to madts. I didn't really want to go off like that, but I saw this thread from Howie and knew that LJ needed a quick refresher course in how to do a proper rant.
 
#18 ·
Your beef is not with the potato growers its with the distribution networks of the food chains your buying from. They buy in large lots. You'll see them unloaded by the pallets. Do you think the sacks on the bottom of the pallet are in the same shape as the ones on top? How long would one think that pallet was in a warehouse? Days, months, or just enough time it takes to grow those little "eyes."

Try a local farmers market. You just might like it.

BTW - Nice rant!
 
#19 ·
According to several chipsters the North Dakota Russets from the Red River Valley around Grand Forks are some of the best out there, lager firm and they only go through the fields once each crop season then leave the rest to gleaners; they are followed by Maine's so, go try elsewhere.
 
#24 ·
I wasn't aware that potatoes would basically liquify after about 6 months when stored inside a cardboard box in the summer until my wife and I moved into her parents house for about 6 months in between houses. They'll stink something awful to boot. Fair warning.
 
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