N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 POTATO GROWER 11 Turning Back The Clock A Look Back 25 Years Ago at Excerpts from The November 1993 Issue of The Valley Potato Grower Magazine Japanese Media Attend Potato Bowl The National Potato Board spon- sored a media tour of four Japanese journalists who took part in the annual Potato Bowl USA festivites held in the Red River Valley in September, 1993. Held annually in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Potato Bowl is a week long community event showing the appreciation of the potato industry of the Red River Valley. The attendance at Potato Bowl was part of a tour planned for this group by Potato Board’s Export Director, Tom Lipetsky and Export Committee Chairman, Randy Robinson. They viewed the potato industry in the Red River Valley as well as the Idaho potato industry. The tour consisted of a visit to the USDA/ARS Potato Research Plant in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, a har- vest operation, a visit to processing plants, and wash plant operations. The group was also able to eye wit- ness the largest order of french fries ever served, 2,000 pounds, during the Potato Bowl festivities. Lipetsky said in an interview the group of journalists was chosen because they are considered the “opinion leaders” of the media in Japan. Lipetsky, who has spent much time over the recent years promoting the export of US pota- toes to Japan, explained that people in the US are cautious about what they read in the newspapers, while in Japan people generally believe everything they read. “A lot of people who are anti- import have been very successful at getting articles published in the newspapers in Japan about how unsafe imported food products are,” he said. “It’s very important for us to establish relationships with peo- ple who understand the industry and the process that goes into creat- ing a safe quality product.” Japan is by far the largest export market for the US potato industry. The US has been exporting frozen potato products to Japan for some 20 years, with about 136,000 tons per year in recent years. “The tour was very successful in showing these journalists the pota- to industry from production to pro- cessing,” Lipetsky said. Grower,Packer&ShipperofREdPotatoes Keith Groven: [email protected] Casey Byram: [email protected] Leah Halverson: [email protected] Don Ladho : don.ladho @blackgoldfarms.com CONTACT: 701-772-2620 432018thAve.S,GrandForks,ND58201 www.blackgoldfarms.com