Last year, in the U.S., an average of 126 pounds of potatoes per person were consumed, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Twelve percent of the total -- 16 pounds -- was in the form of chips.
That's where the Hoekstra family comes in. For half a century, they have specialized in growing potatoes for the chip industry.
"I got out of high school in 1956 and remember starting to raise chip potatoes in '57,"Bob said.
His father, William, who learned potato growing from his own dad, made the first connection to a chip maker that year, when he learned that a chip processor had opened in Chicago. He drove north with a sack of St. Anne spuds, had what has been described as "a short interview"with the management, and started delivering potatoes for chips the next day.
"Before that it was just a small thing,"Bob said of their production for sale locally, directly to consumers and to "small grocery stores."
[Article contains history of potato chips, history of the potato and some potato trivia]
