Giving potatoes a positive image

Should the term 'couch potato' be removed from the dictionary - because it is derogatory to potatoes?

That seems to be the message from a new campaign led by the British Potato Council (BPC). They've got a real chip on their shoulder about such a negative term being associated with their product, and want to replace it with 'couch slouch'.

'We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad for you', said Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the BPC. Which is fair enough - potatoes have plenty of vitamins and minerals and are by no means particularly fattening. Spuds have had a hard time of it lately, mashed between low-carbohydrate diets like Atkins and the half-baked food scares about fries promoted by Jamie Oliver and others. In fact, the term 'couch potato' is the least of the potato industry's worries - but you can't blame them for trying to get a bit of positive publicity.

But do the BPC really have to promote potatoes by appealing to the language of the offended minority? Perhaps they should demand a law banning 'incitement to root-vegetable hatred'. Or maybe they're concerned about the cost of therapy for all those traumatised spuds, giving a whole new meaning to the term 'couch potato'.

Couch potato label gives veg a bad name - farmers, Guardian, 20 June 2005