Rice vs. Potatoes (RVP)

It is time for an official squaring off between two of the world's most popular starches.  But before we go any further, I give full credit for this post to two tater lovers out there.  The first is Kasper, who snapped this photo at home just last night.  We could officially call this the 180 Tatey, the mascot of the incurable starch fiend. 

But the real meat to go with that tater comes from Toni, who sent me this awesome video about the exceptional health of the people in Yuzuri Hara, Japan - a place where, unlike the rest of Japan, the people eat fresh, local taters instead of white rice - and their health, because of eating an unrefined, fresh-outta-the ground tater instead of a refined starch as their staple, is noticeably superior. 

Not to bash rice too hard, as it is clearly not the devil incarnate in the same way, say, high-fructose corn syrup is.  In fact, it is probably a perfectly healthy staple as long as the rest of your diet is excellent and well-rounded from a nutritional standpoint.  But in a head to head comparison, I think this video says it all.  Hyaluronic Schmyaluronic.  This is one of the only places in any developed country where the diet is built around unrefined starches.  Live-long on taters and long-live the 180 Tatey!!!