Aleksandr Kalinchuk Professor Fitzgerald ECO 202 20 November 2015 French Fry Paper “Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are the fourth most important food crop in the world and the leading vegetable crop in the United States.” What makes potatoes so demanding around the world? The marginal benefit that we receive from consuming it. We strive to benefit ourselves out of self-interest with resources that we have available to us. One benefit includes receiving pleasure from consuming those glorious, freshly cooked French fries. The market for potatoes is a monopolistic competition because there are many buyers and sellers and different types of potatoes which allows for substitution and fierce competition. “There are more than 100 varieties of potatoes sold throughout the United States. Each of these varieties fit into one of seven potato type categories: russet, red, white, yellow, blue/purple, fingerling and petite.” Potatoes come in different sizes and shapes and each used for different purposes including fresh …show more content…
Each state is entitles to at least one member. “The program's purpose is to maintain and expand existing markets and develop new markets for potatoes and potato products” (USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service). Regulation for the potato market specifically is not as strict as many other markets. For example, from the Standard for Grades of Potatoes, a defect is recognized when a bruise “removal causes a loss of more than 5 percent of the total weight of the potato or when the area affected is more than 5 percent of the surface.“ It is considered seriously damaged if the removal “causes a loss of more than 10 percent of the total weight of the potato” (USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service). The same regulations that apply to most agricultural good applies to potatoes regarding what kinds of chemicals can be used, quality, record keeping,