Generation Z has fallen for the Mediterranean diet myth – but the humble potato has all you need

Let’s give our support to the humble, unassuming spud. Trade journal The Grocer reports that sales of our favourite vegetable, the potato, are down 5.4 per cent while sales of rice have soared by a third.

I grew up – like most people from a working class background – believing that no meal was complete without a spud on the plate. Boiled, mashed, roast or chipped, they are so versatile: what’s not to like?

Now, I grow four different varieties in plastic tubs – Pink Fir Apple are my ultimate favourite, the caviar of the spud world. In fact, a hot Pink Fir Apple split and filled with caviar (or cod’s roe if you’re broke) is the food of the gods.

Eating habits change, though, and The Grocer says that young people, particularly Generation Z consumers, believe that potatoes should be avoided as they make you fat. They’ve fallen for the Mediterranean diet myth, which focuses on olive oil, pasta and risotto – as if pasta, rice and noodles aren’t packed with carbohydrates. Or the Paleo diet, which shuns all carbs in favour of protein.

Personally, I’m sticking with spuds – according to a new study published in The Lancet health journal, people who regularly eat carbs could live for four years longer than those who try to eradicate them, or replace them with meat or cheese. Just as too many carbs can be bad for your health, cutting them out entirely is equally harmful.

It seems that a diet made up of 50 per cent carbs is just the right balance. But will spud-free Sundays soon be joining meat-free Mondays if the “clean eating” brigade get their way?