January 2022 - 41

You are the choices you make
Brian grew up in
UNITED POTATO
GROWERS OF
AMERICA
Buzz Shahan
Chief Operating
Officer
a tough Bronx, New
York neighborhood
that traps many of its
residents in unending
poverty. Brian
dropped out of high
school his sophomore
year and took a
construction job.
Evenings were spent
in a local bar cheering
his favorite sports
teams and placing
bets on everything from pool to sports games.
After three years on that treadmill, Brian's
girlfriend was expecting a baby. Considering
that a human being was about to enter the
world with no one to look out for it and that
he was responsible for creating the child, he
grew up.
While not a scholar, Brian was a quick
learner. Throughout his construction work
experience, as his boss switched him from
job to job, Brian picked up detail after detail
of how the construction business works;
not how to build a skyscraper but how the
business of building a skyscraper works. He
PUSA, continued from previous page
This will be completed and submitted for
publication this year.
* Manuscript 3 will bring the algorithm to
life by showing how it can be applied
to various dietary patterns and across
cultures. The estimated publication timing
is Q2 2022.
WHAT'S NEXT AND HOW CAN
THE INDUSTRY SUPPORT?
These collective efforts will be used
to inform dietary guidance and educate
nutrition thought leaders. This work is
important, now more than ever, as there is
a prevailing narrative to reduce intakes of
high GI foods, like potatoes, amongst leading
vocal institutions like Harvard. Industry
members are encouraged to get involved
and help spread the word about the APRE
research program, potato nutrition findings,
and the QCC/SAC publications. To stay up
to date on the latest research and nutrition
news, check out www.apre.org and www.
potatoesusa.com.
Spudman * January 2022
39
It makes sense that higher
standards for choice
produce better results
than lower standards.
discovered that manuals existed regarding
construction's rules and regulations; he
studied them. He studied engineering
methods. As his education continued and as
he observed how projects he was working
on were mismanaged, he concluded that,
were he to manage a project, he would do it
differently. He would do it better.
When that opportunity came, things
turned out as he knew they would. The
projects he managed were completed faster
than expected and under budget. After that
happened a few times, Brian approached
his boss and asked for a raise. If not a
raise, then some portion of the savings he
produced. He was turned down. This was the
bosses' money to pocket, not his. Brian quit
and started his own company.
This is a true story and goes on as you
expect. Brian became successful in the
construction business. Brian, his wife of 40plus
years and his children, a boy and a girl,
have all had lives far different than they would
have had Brian made different choices. In a
literal sense, Brian became his choices.
Wherever you are and whatever you are
doing, you are exactly where your choices
have placed you. Certainly, reversals and
miscalculations happen. But, still, how you
responded to past adversities and past
successes place you where you are today.
Like Brian, you are the accumulation of your
choices. This begs the question: By what
standards do you measure your choices? It
makes sense that higher standards for choice
produce better results than lower standards.
If you're in the business of producing and/or
selling potatoes, immersion in market data
is the best choice you can make in terms of
guaranteeing consistent returns for yourself or
for those you represent. It's hard to imagine a
person unwilling to do that, isn't it? It's hard
to imagine someone choosing to produce for,
and sell into, an inelastic (stable demand)
market without knowing what their portion
of total production should be to guarantee
consistent returns.
http://www.apre.org http://www.potatoesusa.com
January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022
